BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


(|Ii!Htl>'-Xi-li^J 


4 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/digginggoldamongOOinghrich 


A  PEEP  INTO  COLORADO. 


DIGGING  GOLD 

AMONG  THE  ROCKIES 

OR, 

EXCITING  ADVENTURES  OF  WILD  CAMP  LIFE 

In  Leadville,  Black  Hills  and  the  Gunnison  Country. 

GIVING  A  GRAPHIC  HISTORY 


OF   THE   VARIOUS    DISCOVERIES    OF   GOLD    AND    SILVER    IN   THE    UNITED 
STATES,  THE  DEVELOPMENT  AND  EXTENT  OF  OUR  MINING  INDUSTRIES. 
ALSO   SPECIALLY    DESCRIBING  THE   WONDERFUL  DISCOVERIES   0*F 
LATE  MADE  AND  MAKING  ABOUT  LEADVILLE,  THE  BLACK  HILLS 
AND  GUNNISON  COUNTRY — RECOUNTING  THRILLING  SCENES 
AND  INCIDENTS  OF  LIFE  AMONG  THE  MINERS — THE  RUSH 
TO  THE  NEW  "  EL  DORADO" — EXCITING  DISCOVERIES 
OF   THE  PRECIOUS   STUFF — HOW  THEY   FIND    IT — 
WHERE  THEY   FIND    IT — HOW  THEY  MINE  IT, 
ETC.      STARVATION  PRICES — TREACHERY  OF 
THE  REDSKINS — HOW    MINING    COMPAN- 
IES   ARE    FORMED — MAMMOTH  STOCK 
SWINDLING  OPERATIONS  CONDUCT- 
ED— TRICKS  OF  SHARPERS,  ETC. 


PROFUSELY  ILLUSTRATED. 


By  G.  THOMAS  INGHAM,  Esq., 

27.  S.  Deputy  Mineral  Surveyor  for  the  lately  discovered  extensive  mineral 
belt  of  Colorado,  Dakota,  Montana,  etc. 


HUBBARD  BROS.,  Publishers, 

Philadelphia,  Pa.;  Springfield,  Mass.;  Chicago,  111.;  Cincinnati,  Ohio; 

Atlanta,  Ga. ;  Kansas  City,  Mo. :  N.  D.  Thompson  &  Co.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 


Li' 


COPYRIGHTED   l88o. 


Bancroft  Library 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 


IN  view  of  the  recent  wonderful  discoveries  in  Colorado 
and  the  Black  Hills,  and  the  interest  they  have  awakened 
in  precious  metal  mining,  the  great  revival  which  is 
taking  place  in  the  quartz  mining  industry,  and  the  increased 
bullion  production  which  will  result  therefrom,  the  author  has 
seen  fit  to  prepare  the  present  volume,  deeming  that  the  time 
was  ripe  for  its  appearance. 

When  it  is  considered  that  only  four  years  ago  a  section  of 
country  (the  Black  Hills),  was  little  better  than  a  "howling 
wilderness"  but  is  now  organized  into  three  of  the  most  popu- 
lous counties  of  Dakota,  and  is  producing  six  millions  of 
gold  and  silver  bullion  annually,  and  that  a  single  district  in 
Colorado  (Leadville),  which  two  years  ago  produced  an  in- 
considerable amount  of  precious  metal,  has  in  the  past  year, 
1879,  produced  eleven  millions  of  dollars  j  that  in  one  year  it 
has  increased  its  production  nearly  eight  millions,  and  that 
the  State  of  Colorado  is  now  producing  at  the  rate  of  two 
millions  per  month,  with  the  prospect  of  a  steady  increase  in 
the  future,  it  would  seem  that  an  explanation  is  given  why 
such  a  wonderful  interest  has  been  excited  in  mining  and 
mining  stocks  in  the  large  cities  of  the  East. 

We  have,  in  the  vast  region  lying  west  of  the  Missouri 
River,  and  contiguous  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  four  States 
and  eight  Territories,  in  which  mining  is  being  successfully 


iv  PREFACE. 

prosecuted.  The  entire  region  is  favored  with  a  healthful 
and  invigorating  climate,  and  is  rich  in  mineral  resources. 
Almost  everywhere  the  Indians  have  been  subdued,  and  order 
and  security  to  person  and  property  prevail.  Many  of  the 
dangers  and  hardships  that  attend  pioneer  life  are  past.  And 
to  most  of  these  sections  the  iron  rail  has  reached  or  will  soon 
be  extended.  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  precious  metal 
mining  have  grown  wonderfully  less  within  a  few  years. 
Great  improvements  have  taken  place  in  mining  and  mill  ma- 
chinery, and  in  the  methods  of  manipulating  the  ores. 

Rock,  which  formerly  baffled  the  skill  of  mill  men  to  work 
at  a  profit,  is  now  yielding  large  returns  to  the  producer. 
The  question  of  transportation,  which  to  the  far-off  Terri- 
tories of  Montana,  Idaho,  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  was  such 
a  detriment  to  their  prosperity,  seems  now  about  to  be  solved. 
The  Ut^.h  and  Northern  Railroad  has  been  pushed  from  Og- 
den  up  into  Idaho  and  Montana.  The  Southern  Pacific  from 
San  Francisco,  through  Arizona  to  Tucson  j  and  now  that  the 
Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  has  reached  the  capital  of 
New  Mexico,  it  would  seem  that  we  are  indeed  upon  the  eve 
of  a  wonderfully  prosperous  mining  season. 

Gold  and  silver,  and  their  discovery  and  production,  are 
subjects  which  interest  everybody.  And,  although  there  are 
many  valuable  works  on  this  subject,  of  a  scientific  nature, 
and  descriptive  of  quartz  mining,  yet  there  are  comparatively 
few  of  them  which  are  interesting  to  the  general  reader,  and 
there  is  still  a  vast  amount  of  ignorance  in  regard  to  the 
mode  and  manner  of  producing  the  precious  metals. 

It  is  not  the  object  of  this  book  to  add  anything  essentially 
new  to  scientific  knowledge.  And  it  was  not  written  to  bear 
criticism  as  such. 


PREFACE.  v 

The  author  has  endeavored  to  place  before  the  public,  in 
language  which  all  can  understand,  such  facts  and  history  as 
has  come  to  his  knowledge  in  regard  to  this  wonderful  and 
growing  industry.  If  the  scientist,  or  learned  professor,  or 
mining  engineer  should  be  disappointed  in  not  finding  here 
profound  expressions  upon  favorite  theories,  or  should  miss 
such  technical  terms  as  are  common  in  some  books  of  this 
kind,  they  will  please  bear  in  mind  that  the  masses  of  the 
people,  the  readers  whom  we  seek  to  interest,  do  not  want 
them.  Hence  we  have  sought  the  most  plain  and  unvarnished 
language,  deeming  that  the  simplest  modes  of  expression  were 
most  suitable  for  our  purpose,  and  if  this  volume  shall  prove 
of  service  only  to  the  class  named,  our  object  will  have  been 
attained. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. . 

Pagb. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  the  United  States — Gold  in  North  Carolina : 
the  earliest  discoveries  made — Gold  in  South  Carolina,  Virginia, 
Georgia,  Alabama  and  Tennessee — The  discovery  in  California :  by 
whom.made — Ancient  discoveries  in  Arizona,  1748 — The  California 
Indian — A  sharp  Yankee  trader — How  the  discovery  came  to  be 
made  in  California — A  short  biography  of  the  discoverer — The  mill- 
race  where  gold  was  first  found — The  test  that  decided  it  to  be  gold — 
Discoveries  in  other  Territories — Discovery  of  the  Comstock  Lode : 
by  whom  made — General  Custer  finds  gold  in  the  Black  Hills — 
Professor  Jenney's  expedition  to  the  Black  Hills  in  1875 — Product 
of  the  Black  Hills — Annual  product  of  the  United  States  in  1879 — 
Great  progress  in  railroad  building  to  the  mining  regions — Gold 
and  silver  in  Arkansas  and  Missouri — Silver  mines  in  Maine :  who 
discovered  them,  and  how — The  cost  of  living  in  the  early  excite- 
ment in  California — High  prices  in  1849 — The  cost  of  a  single 
meal,  #21.50 17 


CHAPTER  II. 

Placer  mining — Ancient  river-beds — Table  Mountain,  California — 
Surface  mining  and  deep  gravel  mining — The  blue  lead — Quartz 
the  mother  of  gold — How  placer  deposits  were  formed — The  bed- 
rock— Gold-saving  apparatus — The  specific  gravity  of  gold — Of 
other  metals — Winnowing  gold — The  pan  process — The  cradle,  or 
rocker — The  Long  Tom — Amalgamation  with  quicksilver — Hy- 
draulic mining — The  novel  invention,  and  where  first  used — The 
inventor  unknown — The  sluice — Water  brought  over  fifty  miles  to 
dry  diggings — Bank  blasts  of  fifty  tons  of  powder — Cleaning  up 
the  sluices — Retorting  the  amalgam — Casting  the  gold  bricks — Rich 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Pagh. 
strikes — A  two  thousand  eight  hundred  dollar  nugget — The  largest 
piece  of  gold  ($6,000) — An  eight  thousand* dollar  find — A  building 
torn  down  for  the  gold  beneath  it— Alder  Gulch,  Montana — Confed- 
erate Gulch,  Montana — Marvelous  diggings — Aladdin-like  wealth — 
One  thousand  dollars  to  the  pan  of  earth — Coarse  gold  and  nuggets 
— Diamonds  in  California — Diamonds — How  to  recognize  them...     42 


CHAPTER  III. 

Quartz  mining — Veins  of  ore — The  Mexican  arrastra — The  geology 
ojf  mining — Granite :  of  what  composed :  description — Metamor- 
phic  rock — Origin  of  minerals — Where  to  look  for  veins  of  ore — 
"Fools'  gold" — Iron  pyrites — Quartz  veins:  their  principal  fea- 
tures— The  great  "Mother  Lode"  of  California — The  Gtomstock 
Lode :  its  size  and  production — The  Sutro  Tunnel :  an  address  by 
Adolph  Sutro,  its  projector — Formation  of  the  fissure  :  how  it  was 
filled — The  theory  of  volatilization — Great  depth  of  the  Comstock 
Lode — Bonanzas — Carbonate  ores  of  Colorado — The  first  quartz- 
mill — The  stamp-mill 95 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Mining  laws — How  to  locate  mineral  claims 127 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Black  Hills:  early  history  and  discovery — Indian  traditions — 
Origin  of  the  discovery  of  gold — The  first  party  to  winter  there — 
Evidences  of  former  occupation — The  first  city — The  first  discovery 
of  quartz — Cost  of  some  of  the  mines — Annual  production — Mining 
regulations,  etc 181 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Westward  ho! — Notes  by  the  way,  etc 199 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Black  Hills — Division  into  counties — Streams — Rivers — Creeks — 
Scenery — Mountains — Peaks — French      Creek — Spring     Creek — 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Pagb. 
Rapid  Creek — Box  Elder  Creek — Bear  Butte  Creek — Whitewood 
Creek — Spearfish  River — Game,  etc „ 215 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Deadwood  City — Early  history — Laying  out  the  town — The  first 
cabin — A  big  sale  of  goods — The  great  fire — Rising  from  its  ruins — 
Remarkable  energy  in  rebuilding — Deadwood  rebuilt — The  first 
post-office — Stamps  sold — Money-orders  issued — Cost  of  living  in 
Deadwood — Deadwood  market  report — Deadwood's  water-works 
— Rents  and  town  lots — Town-site  controversy — Titles  to  prop- 
erty— Decision  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office  at 
Washington 223 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Custer  City — Other  towns  and  cities  and  population — Rapid  City — 
Rochford  —  Rockerville — Hayward — Hill  City — Sheridan — Pac- 
tola — Victoria — Spearfish  City — Camp  Ruhlen — Central  City — 
Lead  City— Galena 242 


CHAPTER  X. 

Black  Hills  gold  mines — The  first  mines  discovered — The  first 
quartz-mill :  who  built  it — The  Reno  mine — Rich  ore — Cement 
mines — Monthly  yield  of  some  mines — Four  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred locations  in  the  Hills — Veins  of  enormous  width — "The 
Great  Belt:"  Theories  about  its  formation — The  Desmet  mine :  its 
production — The  Deadwood  mine  :  its  production — The  Highland 
mine :  cost — The  Homestake :  its  cost :  production — The  Giant 
and  Old  Abe:  cost — The  Rhoderic  Dhu  mine — Production  of 
some  other  mines — Desmet  mine  and  mill — The  Homestake  mine 
and  mill — The  Caledonia — The  Golden  Terra 251 


CHAPTER  XL 

Black  Hills  silver  mines — First  discovery — The  Florence  mine  and 
mill — The  Cora  mine — The  Bald  Mountain  district — The  Troajan 
mine — Other  Bald  Mountain  mines — Silver  mills — The  Rochford 


x  CONTENTS. 

Page. 
district — The  Stand-by  mine — Custer  mines — The  Atlantic  mine — 
The  Rockerville  placer  mines,  etc 267 


CHAPTER  XII. 
Taking  the  bullion  away — Road  agents „ 287 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Coal,  oil,  salt  and  agricultural  resources,  railroads,  etc 296 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Discovery  of  gold  in  the  Centennial  State 308 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Onward  to  the  Gunnison  Country  over  the  backbone  of  the  Con- 
tinent    318 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Pitkin 350 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  mines  of  Pitkin 363 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Ohio  City — The  mines  of  Ohio  Creek — Game  and  speckled  trout — 
Beaver-dams  and  houses — A  new-made  grave — An  epitaph — A 
horrible  tragedy  at  Ohio  City — Shooting  affray — In  camp  prospect- 
ing— Pitching  our  tent — Around  the  camp-fire — Baking  our  own 
bread — The  "Dutch  Oven" — Grand  scenery — View  of  the  Un- 
compahgre  range — The  "camping-out  glory" — Cool  nights  in  the 
mountains — Struck  ore — Dreams  of  sudden  wealth — A  fortunate 


CONTENTS.  x{ 

Page. 
"grub-stake" — Description  of  mines — Reported  carbonate  strike — 
Forest  fires — Narrow   escape  from  burning — Miners'  cabins  de- 
stroyed   376 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Gunnison  City,  the  county-seat  of  Gunnison  County — The  road  from 
Pitkin  to  Gunnison — Situation  and  population  of  Gunnison — Prices 
of  real  estate,  lumber,  etc. — Rival  towns — The  railway  soon  ex- 
pected— The  coal-fields  north — Its  natural  advantages  and  pros- 
pective "boom" 391 


CHAPTER   XX. 

Ruby  Camp — The  town  of  Irwin — Along  the  road — Beautiful  wild 
flowers — Grand  scenery — Castle  Rocks — The  coal  region — The 
falls  of  Big  Ohio  Creek — Climbing  into  the  Elk  Mountains — Snow 
along  the  road  in  July — The  town :  elevation,  population — Rival 
towns  again — Business — Prices  of  living — A  lake  ten  thousand  feet 
high — A  bit  of  history — The  mines  of  Ruby  Camp— Ruby  silver 
ore — Extraordinary  richness — The  Ute  Indian  Reservation — Rich 
in*  minerals — Sixty  miles  into  the  reservation — Living  on  venison 
and  game — Forty  pounds  of  trout — Indians  not  hostile — A  terrible 
adventure  with  mountain  lions — Eight  days  without  food — Gothic 
City — The  town  of  Crested  Buttes 395 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

From  Gunnison  City  to  South  Arkansas  Station — Over  Marshall 
Pass — Recrossing  the  Rockies — Distance  and  fare — Fifteen  hours 
in  a  crowded  stage-coach — Incidents  of  the  journey — Walking 
across  the  summit — Scenery — Poncha  Springs— The  town  of  South 
Arkansas — Rapid  growth — On  to  Denver — The  town  of  Cleora — 
The  "deserted  village" — Entering  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Ar- 
kansas— Massive  scenery — Through  the  "  Royal  Gorge  " — Gigantic 
walls,  two  thousand  feet  high — Canon  City — Pueblo — Sights  along 
the  way — Pike's  Peak — Monument  rocks — Safe  arrival  in  Den- 
ver  , 407 


XJJ  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Pagb. 
Leadville,  the  carbonate  camp — Early  history — California  Gulch  in 
i860 — Former  rich  yield  from  the  placer  mines — The  "heavy 
sand  "  that  troubled  the  sluice-boxes — Found  to  be  carbonate  ore — 
The  first  mines  located — The  first  sampling  works — The  first 
smelter — A  store  in  June,  1877  :  by  whom  established — The  first 
buildings  in  Leadville — Marvelous  growth  in  1878 — Poor  men 
raised  to  sudden  wealth — High  prices  of  real  estate — Rents — Busi- 
ness— Smelters — One  million  dollars  per  month — A  few  of  liie 
mines — Value  of  the  ores — The  Little  Bonanza:  Triangle — A  few 
of  the  men  who  struck  it  rich — Five  millions  in  profits  from  mine 
speculations — Some  of  the  big  bonanzas — The  R.  E.  Lee  mine — 
The  Chrysolite— The  Morning  Star— The  Little  Chief— The  Little 
Pittsburg — Cost  of  Living — The  great  strike  for  wages — Routes  by 
which  to  reach  Leadville,  etc 418 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Stock  gambling — Mining  speculations — Tricks  of  sharpers,  etc.— The 
assessment  laws  of  California  and  Nevada — "  Freezing  out  "  small 
stockholders — Comstock  management — The  Consolidated  Virginia 
and  California  management — Assessments  levied  in  Nevada  in 
1879— Dividends  of  the  United  States  in  1879— The  Little  Pitts- 
burg stock  bubble — Great  decline  in  value — A  common  swindle — 
"  Wild-cat  "  mines — Tunnel  schemes — Reports  of  professed  ex- 
perts, etc. — Big  profits  to  promoters  in  stocking  mines,  etc. — "  Salted 
mines,"  etc 439 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

History  of  a  few  mining  millionaires :  men  who  made  their  fortunes 
in  mines — Life  of  Lieutenant-Governor  H.  A.  W.  Tabor,  of  Colo- 
rado; Ex-United-States-Senator  Jerome  B.  Chaffee,  of  Colorado; 
George  H.  Fryer,  Esq.,  of  Colorado ;  Archie  Borland,  Esq.,  the 
owner  of  some  Black  Hills  bonanzas ;  John  W.  Mackay,  of  Cali- 
fornia ;  James  C.  Flood,  Esq.,  of  California ;  James  G.  Fair,  of 
Nevada ;  United  States  Senator  William  Sharon,  of  California — 
Sandy  Bowers,  a  Comstock  character  sketch...., 454 


CONTENTS.  XllJ 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Page. 
Conclusion — A  word  of  advice — All  is  not  gold  that  glitters — Amount 
of  funds  required  for  the  journey — Railway  and  stage  fare — The 
contingencies  of  such  a  journey — Sickness — A  noble  act — Pros- 
pecting a  great  lottery — Who  draw  the  prizes — The  old-timers  of 
'40. — Plenty  of  room  for  pluck  and  energy — How  to  outfit  for  pros- 
pecting— What  to  provide — The  cost — The  burro — A  useful  animal  485 

APPENDIX. 

Valuable  tables,  showing  the  yearly  product  of  the  United  States  from 
1848  to  1880 — Product  of  the  States  and  Territories  west  for  1879 
— Annual  product  of  lead,  silver  and  gold  in  the  States  and  Terri- 
tories west  of  the  Missouri  from  1870  to  1880 — The  world's  product 
of  gold  and  silver — The  dividends  of  the  mines  of  the  United 
States  for  1879 — List  of  the  dividend-paying  mines  of  the  United 
States — Decision  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office 
in  regard  to  the  town-site  of  Deadwood,  Dakota — The  mining  laws 
of  the  United  States  and  regulations  thereunder 494 

Definitions  of  mining  terms 502 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page. 
Frontispiece — A  Peep  into  Colorado. 

An  Original  Land-owner 23 

Interior  of  Copper  Mine 34 

Deep  Mine  Work 44 

Mouth  of  the  Mine 47 

Hand-drilling  in  the  Mine 47 

Washing  Gold  with  the  Cradle 56 

Lake  Tahoe,  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains 59 

Mining  Camp 62 

A  Mountain  Lake 65 

Northern  Slope  of  Uinta  Mountains 67 

Washing  Down  the  Gold  Hills 71 

Washing  Gold  with  the  Shaker 71 

Howland's  Improved  Disintegrating  Riffle 75 

Excelsior  Grinding  and  Amalgamating  Pan loo 

Overhand  Stoping.,, ..  11 1 

Underhand  Stoping.. .r. in 

Sperry's  Wrought  Iron  Frame  Stamp  Mills 122 

The  Howland  Pulverizer ♦....  123 

Stone  and  Ore  Crusher 125 

Sectional  View  " Little  Giant" 125 

Bad  Lands  Mountain 183 

Miners  around  their  Camp-fire..; 185 

Basaltic  Columns  in  the  Great  North-west 215 

Peaks  on  the  Greene  River,  in  Western  Wyoming 216 

Specimens  of  Basaltic  Columns , 221 

Ingersoll  Rock  Drill  (in  mine) 261 

Ingersoll  Rock  Drill  or  Tripod 262 

Summit  of  Pike's  Peak,  Colorado 309 

Devil's  Gate,  Georgetown,  Colorado 316 

Mount  of  the  Holy  Cross,  Colorado 316 

The  Snow-capped  Rockies , 319 

Gunnison's  Butte 329 

Winnie's  Grotto — A  Side  Canon 330 

Boulder  Canon,  Colorado 377 

Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas,  Colorado 412 

Business  Street  of  Leadville , 418 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  DISCOVERY  OF  GOLD  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES — GOLD  IN  NORTH 
CAROLINA :  THE  EARLIEST  DISCOVERIES  MADE — GOLD  IN  SOUTH  CARO- 
LINA, VIRGINIA,  GEORGIA,  ALABAMA  AND  TENNESSEE — THE  DISCOVERY 
IN    CALIFORNIA:    BY  WHOM  MADE — ANCIENT  DISCOVERIES  IN  ARIZONA, 

1748 — THE    CALIFORNIA    INDIAN— A    SHARP    YANKEE     TRADER HOW 

THE  DISCOVERY  CAME  TO  BE  MADE  IN  CALIFORNIA — A  SHORT  BIOG- 
RAPHY OF  THE  DISCOVERER — THE  MILL-RACE  WHERE  GOLD  WAS 
FIRST  FOUND — THE  TEST  THAT  DECIDED  IT  TO  BE  GOLD — DISCOVERIES 
IN  OTHER  TERRITORIES — DISCOVERY  OF  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE:  BY 
WHOM  MADE — GENERAL  CUSTER  FINDS  GOLD  IN  THE  BLACK  HILLS — 
PROFESSOR  JENNEY'S  EXPEDITION  TO  THE  BLACK  HILLS  IN  1 875 — PRO- 
DUCT OF  THE  BLACK  HILLS — ANNUAL  PRODUCT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
IN  1879 — GREAT  PROGRESS  IN  RAILROAD  BUILDING  TO  THE  MINING 
REGIONS — GOLD  AND  SILVER  IN  ARKANSAS  AND  MISSOURI — SILVER 
MINES  IN  MAINE:  WHO  DISCOVERED  THEM,  AND  HOW — THE  COST- OF 
LIVING  IN  THE  EARLY  EXCITEMENT  IN  CALIFORNIA — HIGH  PRICES  IN 
1849 — THE  COST  OF  A  SINGLE  MEAL,  $21.50. 

The  Discovery  of  Gold  in  the  United  States. 

THIRTY-TWO  years  ago  the  discovery  was 
made,  which  peopled  the  Pacific  Coast. 
California,  then  a  Mexican  colony,  subse- 
quently became  annexed  to  the  United  States  by 
a  treaty  of  peace,  ratified  on  the  30th  of  May,  1 848. 
It  was  then  a  vast  territory,  sparsely  settled  by  a 
few  Mexicans,  less  Americans,  and  some  Indians, 
and  was  mainly  governed  or  controlled  by  parish 
priests.  Its  only  productions  were  hides  and  tal- 
low, with  which  vessels  were  occasionally  laden, 

and  for  which  large  numbers  of  cattle  were  slaugh- 
2  17 


i8 


A  DIG  UNDERTAKING. 


tercd,  their  carcasses  being  mainly  wasted.  With 
the  discovery  made  by  J.  W.  Marshall,  a  new  era 
dawned  for  California.  The  importance  of  his 
discovery  may  be  realized  when  we  consider  that 
within  a  little  more  than  one  year,  or  at  the  close 
of  1849,  United  States  Commissioner  King  esti- 
mated that  fifty-five  thousand  miners  were  at  work 
in  the  gold  fields,  and  that  forty  millions  of  dollars 
in  gold  dust  had  been  taken,  and  that  the  probable 
yield  of  the  succeeding  year  (1850)  would  be  fifty 
millions. 

Such  was  the  revolution  which  had  taken  place 
in-  this  short  time,  never  equaled  by  any  country. 
This  annual  product  of  California  increased  until 
^853,  when  it  reached  sixty-five  millions. 

Gold  in  North  Carolina. 

Up  to  this  time  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and 
Georgia  had  mainly  furnished  the  gold  production 
of  the  United  States.  Gold  had  been  discovered 
there  for  many  years,  but  nothing  had  occurred  to 
excite  such  a  general  interest  in  its  pursuit  or  such 
a  mad  rush  to  the  gold  fields,  as  the  reports  which 
came  from  far-off  California  in  1848-49. 

Then  it  was  something  of  an  undertaking  to 
cross  the  continent;  an  undertaking  requiring 
months  of  weary  trial  and  hardship  to  cross  the 
desert  plains  ;  or  requiring  a  sea  voyage  and  jour- 
ney across  the  isthmus,  of  nearly  or  quite  as  long, 
and  accompanied  by  the  perils  of  fever  and  dis- 


TRINKETS  OF  GOLD.  I(- 

ease.     Many  were  the  poor  souls  who  perished  in 
the  undertaking. 

To-day  it  is,  with  the  aid  of  the  palace-coach  and 
sleeper,  but  the  pleasure-trip  of  a  week.  And 
what  has  made  this  change  ?  What,  indeed,  has 
stretched  this  band  of  steel  across  the  continent, 
unless  it  be  the  discoveries  made  in  that  golden 
clirne. 

The  Earliest  Discoveries. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  first  discoveries  of  gold 
were  made  in  North  Carolina  in  1820,  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Mecklenburg.  There  is  an  old  account 
of  a  province  visited  by  De  Soto,  in  his  expedition 
of  1538-40  to  a  province  called  "  Cofachiqui," 
whose  capital  and  chief  town  stood  upon  a  tongue 
of  land  between  Broad  River,  of  Georgia,  and  the 
Savannah  River,  just  opposite  the  modern  district 
of  Abbeville.  It  is  said  the  Spaniards  entered  this 
town  and  found  the  country  ruled  by  a  beautiful 
Indian  queen,  named  "  Xualla."  Here  they  found 
trinkets  of  gold,  and  hatchets  formed  from  a  mix- 
ture of  gold  and  copper,  and  they  concluded  they 
had  found  the  long-sought-for  precious  deposits 
of  gold. 

"  And  so  they  had,"  says  the  historian.*  "  But 
it  was  neither  their  good  fortune  nor  deserts  to 
find  out  the  precise  spot  where  they  could  be  ob- 
tained."    "  In  less  than  fifteen  miles  south-east  of 

*  Logan,  in  his  History  of  "  Upper  Carolina." 


2Q  PRODUCTION. 

the  town,  on  the  Carolina  side  of  the  river,  lay  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  gold  deposits  in  the 
world." 

In  1825  the  gold  mines  of  North  Carolina  were 
well  known,  and  in  1830  the  annual  production 
was  about  half  a  million.  The  principal  mines 
were  in  the  vicinity  of  Charlotte,  where,  previous 
to  the  California  discoveries,  a  United  States  mint 
was  established.  For  a  long  time  subsequent  to 
the  California  excitement,  and  during  the  war  of 
the  rebellion,  the  mines  were  inactive.  But  within 
the  last  two  years  a  revival  has  taken  place,  and 
with  the  aid  of  improved  machinery  the  mines  will 
soon  produce  again  equal  to  their  palmiest  days. 
The  total  production  of  the  State  up  to  the  present 
time  is  estimated  at  twelve  millions,  and  this  yield 
is  increased  by  the  mines  of  South  Carolina,  a 
continuation  of  the  same  mineral  belt,  about  two 
millions  more. 

Gold  in  Virginia  and  Georgia. 

Gold  mining  in  Virginia  began  in  1829,  and  up 
to  the  present  time  about  four  millions  have  been 
extracted.  The  mines  are  situated  in  the  range 
from  Fredericksburg  to  Danville,  and  have  been 
in  many  places  rich.  But,  until  quite  recently, 
work  on  the  mines  has  been  for  years  abandoned. 
Here,  as  in  North  Carolina,  a  revival  is  taking 
place  in  the  industry,  and  new  quartz  mills  are 
being  erected. 


JAMES  IV,  MARSHALL.  2I 

Georgia,  Alabama  and  Tennessee  each  have  a 
portion  of  the  same  gold-bearing  range,  and  these 
three  States  have  produced  up  to  the  present  time 
at  least  twenty  millions.  Georgia  has  been  the 
greatest  producer  of  any  of  the  Southern  States, 
the  mines  having  been  the  most  actively  worked, 
and  at  the  present  time  she  is  producing  annually 
nearly  half  a  million.  At  Dahlonega,  this  State, 
many  years  ago,  a  United  States  mint  was  estab- 
lished, which  at  the  present  time  is  nothing  more 
than  a  Government  assay  office.  The  States 
above  mentioned,  previous  to  the  advent  of  Cali- 
fornia, were  the  source  of  most  the  entire  produc- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

The  Discovery  in  California. 

The  credit  of  the  discovery  in  California  has 
been  universally  conceded  to  James  W.  Marshall. 
But  it  appears  there  were  other  discoveries  of  the 
precious  metal  in  that  State,  and  undoubtedly  its 
existence  was  known  to  the  Mexicans  much  earlier 
than  Marshall's  discovery.  But  it  remained  for 
him  to  make  the  grand  discovery  of  the  richness 
of  those  deposits,  and  to  make  known  the  fact 
which  caused  the  stampede  that  populated  the 
State. 

Ancient  Discoveries  in  Arizona. 

Richard  J.  Hinton,  in  his  excellent  book  on  Ari- 
zona, says  that,  "Although  there  are  indications 
that  mining  operations  were  carried  on  here  (Ari- 


22  AURIFEROUS  QUARTZ. 

zona)  in  the  seventeenth  century,  it  was  not  until 
1 748  that  the  records  became  definite."  "  In  that 
year  the  San  Pedro  Gold  Mine  (in  Arizona),  it  is 
known,  was  worked  by  the  Spaniards." 

Certain  it  is  that,  according  to  an  old  Spanish 
map  of  Arizona  in  existence,  bearing  date  of 
1775,  on  which  some  mining  villages  are  located, 
and  according  to  Spanish  records  kept,  that  as 
many  as  two  hundred  silver  mines  were  being 
worked  at  that  early  date.  Therefore  it  is  not 
improbable  that  Spanish-Mexican  miners  had  ex- 
tended their  search  for  gold  over  into  California 
long  previous  to  the  time  of  J.  W.  Marshall. 

In  1842,  it  is  said,  a  Mr.  Dana,  who  traveled 
through  Upper  California,  speaks  in  his  work  of 
the  "Auriferous  Quartz"  of  the  Sacramento  Basin, 
and  remarked  its  resemblance  to  other  gold  dis- 
tricts. Thomas  O.  Larkin,  United  States  Consul 
at  Monterey,  in  181 6,  also  wrote  to  the  Secretary 
of  State  at  Washington,  that  "at  San  Fernando" 
(now  Los  Angeles),  California,  "from  one  to  five 
dollars  per  day"  in  gold  could  be  obtained  by 
washing  certain  black  sand.  But  added  that  few 
had  the  patience  to  look  for  it.  So  it  appears 
that,  although  known  to  the  Mexicans,  it  had  not 
been  found  in  quantities  to  encourage  pursuit  for 

The  Lucky  Man. 

it.  Therefore,  we  consider  Marshall  entitled  to  all 
the  honors  of  a  first  discoverer.     It  has  also  been 


AN  ORIGINAL  LAND-OWNER. 


INDIAN  IGNORANCE.  2  ^ 

asserted  that  the  Indians  were  the  first  discover- 
ers, and  it  is  a  tradition  that,  at  a  very  early  period 
after  the  organization  of  Catholic  Missions  in 
Lower  California,  that  the  Indians,  who  were  sent 
into  the  upper  country  to  persuade  the  natives  to 
submit  to  the  guardianship  of  the  Catholic  fathers, 
on  their  return  spoke  of  the  "  shining  sa,7id"  in  the 
streams  which  they  had  crossed  in  their  journey. 
But  it  seems  that  the  story  of  the  shining  sand 
was  unheeded.  It  appears,  in  other  accounts,  that 
the  priests  rather  discouraged  the  search  for  gold 
as  demoralizing  and  injurious  to  their  mission 
work,  which  is  probably  true. 

It  is  very  certain  that  the  California  Indian,  al- 
though he  may  have  seen  the  shining  nuggets 
beneath  his  feet,  never  knew  their  value,  and 
never  saved  them  for  any  useful  purpose.  The 
reason,  perhaps,  for  supposing  the  Indians  to  be 
the  discoverers  has  been  because,  after  the  dis- 
covery by  white  men,  they  learned  to  mine  it,  and 
in  some  instances  became  very  expert  in  finding 
it.  A  curious  incident  is  related  of  a  Yankee 
trader,  who  had  set  up  a  small  shop  among  miners, 
whence  he  dispensed  groceries,  tobacco,  etc.,  in 
the  early  days  of  California  gold  mining.  One 
day  an  Indian  came  to  the  tent  with  a  handful  of 
gold  dust,  wrapped  in  a  cloth,  and  putting  it  in  one 
side  of  the  scales,  the  trader  put  raisins  into  the 
other,  until  they  balanced,  and  displayed  so  little 
haste  in  the  operation  that  the  Indian,  fearing  he 


2  a  UP  THE  AMERICAN.  RIVER. 

would  back  out  of  the  bargain,  suddenly  seized 
the  paper  of  raisins  and  ran  for  the  woods  ;  the 
raisins  costing  the  trader  about  five  cents,  and  the 
gold  amounting  to  over  thirty  dollars. 

How  the  Discoyery  came  to  be  Made. 

James  Wilson  Marshall*  was  born  in  Hope 
Township,  Huntingdon  County,  New  Jersey,  in 
i3i2.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  started  west- 
ward, stopping  first  a  few  months  in  Indiana,  then 
halting  for  a  time  in  Warsaw,  111.,  and  from  thence 
to  Missouri,  near  Fort  Leavenworth.  Here  he 
had  some  idea  of  settling ;  but  after  struggling 
with  the  fever  and  ague  for  a  few  years,  he  started, 
about  May  ist,  1844,  in  company  with  others, 
overland  to  California.  They  took  a  northern 
route,  via  Oregon,  and  thence  southward;  they 
reached  the  Sacramento  Valley,  about  forty  -miles 
from  the  present  city  of  that  name ;  and  finally 
went  to  Sacramento,  then  called  Sutter's  Fort, 
where  Marshall  engaged  to  work  for  Colonel  Sut- 
ter, who  owned  a  large  estate  there  and  trading 
post,  and  who  had  built  a  small  fort,  which  bore 
his'  name. 

The  Mill-Race  where  it  was  Found. 

Some  time  in  the  year  1847,  Marshall  was  sent 
by  Sutter  up  the  American  River,  in  search  of  a 
site  for  a  saw-mill ;  and  going  up  the  south  fork 

*  See  his  biography,  by  John  F.  Persons,  cf  Sacramento,  Cal. 


DIGGING  A  MILL-RACE.  2  ? 

of  that  river  he  at  length  reached  a  point,  after- 
ward known  as  Coloma,  where  now  stands  the 
town  of  that  name.  Having  found  here  a  suitable 
location,  and  marked  a  site  for  a  mill,  he  returned 
to  Sutter's  Fort,  and  formed  a  copartnership  with 
Sutter,  who  agreed  to  assist  him  in  building- the 
mill  and  in  carrying  on  the  lumbering  business. 
This  contract  was  entered  into  about  the  19th  of 
August,  1847.  Accordingly  work  was  at  once 
begun,  and  progressed  rapidly,  and  with  the  aid 
of  two  or  three  men  and  some  eiofht  or  ten  In- 
dians,  a  mill-race  was  in  course  of  construction. 
The  method  employed  was  in  shoveling  out  a 
ditch  by  day,  and  by  turning  in  the  water  to  wash 
it  out  deeper  at  night.  "  On  the  morning  of  the 
19th  of  January,  1848,"  says  Marshall's  biog- 
rapher,* "  Marshall  went  out  as  usual  to  superin- 
tend the  men,  and  after  closing  the  forebay  gate, 
and  thus  shutting  off  the  water,  walked  down  the 
tail-race  to  see  what  sand  and  gravel  had  been  re- 
moved during  the  night.  This  had  been  custom- 
ary with  him  for  some  time,  for  he  had  previously 
entertained  the  idea  that  there  might  be  minerals 
in  the  mountains,  and  had  expressed  it  to  Sutter, 
who,  however,  only  laughed  at  him.  On  this  oc- 
casion, having  strolled  to  the  lower  end  of  the 
race,  he  stood  for  a  moment  examining  the  mass 
of  debris  that  had  been  washed  down,  and  at  this 
juncture  his  eye  caught  the  glitter  of  something 

*  John  F.  Parsons,  Sacramento. 


25  IT  IS  GOLD  l 

that  lay  lodged  in  a  crevice,  or  ripple  of  soft 
granite,  some  six  inches  under  the  water.  His 
first  act  was  to  stoop  and  pick  up  the  substance. 
It  was  heavy,  of  a  peculiar  color,  and  unlike  any- 
thing he  had  seen  in  the  stream  before.  For  a 
few  minutes  he  stood  with  it  in  his  hands,  reflect- 
ing, and  endeavoring  to  recall  all  that  he  had 
heard  or  read  concerning  the  various  minerals. 
After  a  close  examination  he  became  satisfied  that 
what  he  held  in  his  hands  must  be  one  of  three 
substances — mica,  sulphuret  of  copper  or  gold. 
The  weight  assured  him  it  was  not  mica.  Could 
it  be  sulphuret  of  copper?  He  remembered  that 
this  mineral  is  brittle,  and  that  gold  is  malleable; 
and  as  this  thought  passed  through  his  mind  he 
turned  about,  placed  the  specimen  upon  a  flat 
stone,  and  proceeded  to  test  it,  by  striking  it  with 
another.  The  substance  did  not  crack  or  flake 
off;  it  simply  bent  under  his  blows.  This,  then, 
was  gold,  and  in  this  manner  was  the  first  gold 
found  in  California." 

Another  account  says  Marshall  sent  the  speci- 
men to  Mrs.  Peter  L.  Wimmer,  who  lived  at  the 
new  mill,  and  as  she  had  formerly  lived  at  the  gold 
mines  in  Georgia,  he  sent  it  for  her  opinion.  She 
was  boiling  soap,  and  put  the  metal  into  the  kettle  to 
see  if  it  would  corrode,  and  thus  proved  it  to  be  gold. 

After  the  discovery,  it  seems  Marshall  proceeded 
with  his  work  as  usual,  and  having  quietly  col- 
lected some  three  ounces  of  the  metal,  he  had  oc- 


TESTED   WITH  ACID. 


27 


casion,  about  four  days  afterward,  to  go  down  to 
Sutter's.  Taking  his  specimens  with  him,  he 
started.  Arriving  at  Sutter's  store,  he  concluded 
his  other  business,  and  then  asked  for  a  private 
conversation  with  Colonel  Sutter.  They  repaired 
to  a  little  private  office  back  of  the  store,  where 
Marshall  showed  him  the  gold.  He  looked  at  it 
in  astonishment,  and  asked  what  it  was.  Mar- 
shall replied  that  it  was  gold.  "  Impossible  !"  was 
the  ejaculation  of  Sutter.  Marshall  asked  for 
some  nitric  acid  to  test  it,  and  having  sent  to  the 
gunsmith's  for  it,  Sutter  inquired  if  there  was  no 
other  way  in  which  it  could  be  tested,  when  it  oc- 
curred to  them  to  weigh  it.  Accordingly,  some 
silver  coin  and  a  pair  of  balances  were  brought  in, 
and  Marshall  proceeded  to  weigh  it.  As  he  ex- 
pected, the  gold  went  down  and  the  coin  of  equal 
bulk  rose  lightly  up.  Subsequently  the  acid  having 
arrived,  that  settled  the  question,  and  all  doubts 
vanished. 

A  few  days  afterward,  Sutter,  Marshall  and  a 
man  named  Humphrey,  formed  a  mining  copart- 
nership. In  the  month  following,  Marshall  and 
Peter  L.  Wimmer  went  to  "  Mormon  Island,"  and 
found  gold  there.  Other  parties,  residing  in  dif- 
ferent portions  of  California,  hearing  of  the  gold 

Discoveries  in  Other  Territories, 

discoveries  at  Coloma  (Marshall's  Mill),  came 
there  and  observed  the  indications,  and  returning 


2g  EXPLORATIONS  EXTENDED. 

home,  prospected  their  own  neighborhoods  with 
success.  Then  the  excitement  began  to  spread, 
but  it  was  many  months  before  the  news  reached 
the  East.  Vessels  were  not  frequent  from  Atlan- 
tic ports. 

The  Panama  Railroad  was  not  then  built,  and 
the  journey  across  the  plains  was  a  slow  and 
tedious  one — a  route  not  frequently  traveled.  It 
was  late  in  the  year  1848,  and  not  till  the  begin- 
ning of  '49,  that  the  rush  began  which  was  to 
revolutionize  the  Pacific  Coast.  Since  then  there 
have  been  many  new  discoveries  of  scarcely  less 
importance,  and  many  "rushes"  of  a  similar  char- 
acter. Gradually  as  the  richest  bars  and  shallower 
gravel  deposits  were  worked  out  in  California,  the 
miners  extended  their  explorations  to  other  terri- 
tories, with  more  or  less  success.  As  the  vast 
army  of  gold-hunters  increased,  they  sought  less 
crowded  fields  and  more  secluded  haunts,  in  which 
to  dig  for  the  precious  stuff. 

In  1852  mining  was  fairly  begun  in  Oregon, 
which  has  been  prosecuted  with  success  to  the 
present  time.  Washington  Territory  and  British 
Columbia  were  visited  by  the  hardy  miners  soon 
after  that  date,  and  gold  discovered  there.  Idaho 
and  Montana  were  visited  in  i860,  and  rich  placer 
deposits  found.  From  Alder  Gulch  alone,  in  Mon- 
tana, near  Virginia  City,  forty  millions  were  ex- 
tracted within  two  or  three  years,  and  seventy 
millions  have  been  taken  out  of  it  altogether. 


GOLD  A   CIVILIZE  R.  2g 

The  Comstock  Lode,  in  Nevada,  was  discovered 
The  Discoverers  of  the  Comstock  Lode. 

in  1857,  by  Allen  and  Hosea  Grosch.  Hosea  died 
soon  after  from  a  pick  wound  in  the  foot,  and 
Allen  leaving  his  record  of  claims  with  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Comstock,  who  kept  a  grocery  at  Car- 
son, went  to  California.  Allen  also  died  from  the 
effects  of  exposure  on  the  way  over  the  Sierra 
Nevadas,  and  Comstock  having  possession  of  the 
claims,  exercised  ownership  over  them,  thus  giving 
his  name  to  the  greatest  lode  in  the  world.  Thus 
began  the  settlement  of  Nevada,  then  a  part  of 
Utah  Territory.  In  May,  1859,  the  Pike's  Peak 
discoveries,  in  Colorado,  were  announced.  Colo- 
rado was  then  a  part  of  Kansas  and  Utah  Terri- 
tory, and  the  present  boundaries  were  not  known. 

To  illustrate  what  a  wonderful  civilizer  gold  is : 
In  twenty-one  years  Colorado,  an  unorganized 
territory  lying  on  both  sides  of  the  Rockies,  with 
a  population  of  less  than  one  thousand  souls,  has 
become  a  populous  State,  with  thirty  counties, 
with  over  two  hundred  towns  and  cities,  and  a 
population  of  two  hundred  thousand,  and  a  tax- 
able wealth  of  over  one  hundred  millions !  What, 
indeed,  but  her  precious  mineral  deposits  could 
have  produced  such  a  change  ? 

In  the  years  succeeding  i860,  and  during  the 
American  conflict,  mining  excitements  seemed  to 
gradually  die   out.      The  great   appreciation    in 


<20  HILLS  OF  GOLD. 

prices  of  labor  and  supplies,  the  great  cost  of 
transportation,  the  scarcity  of  help  to  work  the 
mines,   all   acted   to   discourage    precious    metal 

General  Custer  Discovers  Gold  in  the  Black  Hills. 

mining,  and  to  make  it  less  profitable.  For 
ten  years  these  causes  greatly  paralyzed  the 
industry. 

In  1874  mining  excitements  had  apparently 
come  to  a  stand-still.  Gold  mining  had  run  into 
a  slower,  more  regular  and  legitimate  business. 
Capital  had  apparently  absorbed  the  gold  and 
silver  fields,  and  was  quietly  grinding  out  the 
quartz  ore,  and  smelting  it  into  bullion. 

Placer  mining  was  a  thing  of  the  past,  except  as 
carried  on  by  the  hydraulic  process,  operated  by 
large  companies.  The  miners  of  1849  and  '52> 
except  those  working  for  wages  under  the  direc- 
tion of  capital,  had  settled  down  to  other  occupa- 
tions in  quiet  homes — some  here,  some  there,  all 
over  the  land.  Quiet  reigned  among  the  gold- 
seekers.  Perhaps  many,  like  one  of  old,  had  folded 
their  arms  and  sighed  that  there  were,  so  to  speak, 
"  no  more  worlds  to  conquer,"  no  more  gold-fields 
to  subdue. 

But  the  west  winds  blew  down  the  hillsides 
and  mountain  passes  ominous  sounds  !  A  breath 
— a  whisper  at  first — then  louder — "  Custer's  sol- 
diers have  found  gold!"  "They  have  found  hills 
of  goid!"     The  Black  Hills!     "The  streams  are 


MINING  FORBIDDEN.  ^ 

filled  with  gold.     There  are  hostile  Indians.     But 
there  is  gold." 

Custer's  expedition  of  1874  returned  from  the 
Black  Hills.  The  breeze  stiffened  to  dLgale.  There 
was  gold — they  had  found  it — they  had  brought  it 
back  with  them.  Surely,  there  was  gold  now." 
Such  was  the  talk  on  the  frontier  among  a  few 
miners  in  1874. 

Professor  Jenney's  Expedition  to  Biack  Hills. 

Still,  some  doubted,  and  in  1875  a  scientific 
party,  headed  by  Professor  Jenney,  were  sent  out 
by  the  Interior  Department,  with  time  and  means 
to  make  a  thorough  exploration,  and  troops  to 
protect  them  from  Indians.  With  them  went  lots 
of  miners.  The  expedition  returned.  There  was 
gold,  and  no  mistake  about  it.  But — the  country 
was  an  Indian  reservation,  ceded  to  them  by  Gov- 
ernment contract,  and  miners  could  not  be  allowed 
to  go  there.  So  said  the  Government,  and  the 
President  issued  a  proclamation  warning  all  per- 
sons not  to  trespass  upon  the  Indians'  domain. 
United  States  soldiers  were  sent  to  bring  out  from 
the  Hills  every  miner  they  could  find.  But,  not- 
withstanding these  facts,  many  went,  and  a  few, 
dodging  the  soldiers  and  escaping  the  Indians, 
passed  the  winter  of  1875-76  in  the  Black  Hills. 
Some  suffered  death  from  Indians ;  some  nearly 
suffered  starvation,  living  upon  game  which 
they  killed  for  subsistence,  which  fortunately  was 


*  2  TREA TV  ARRANGED. 

at  that  time  abundant.  Finally,  the  Government 
made  a  new  treaty  with  the  Indians — the  Red. 
Man  had  to  make  another  surrender  of  territory, 
and  some  time  in  1876  the  Government  owned 
the  country,  and  miners  could  go  there  with- 
out restraint.  Then  the  rush  began  in  earnest, 
and  at  the  present  writing  (1880)  the  population 
of  the  Black  Hills  is  estimated  at  twenty-five  thou- 

Product  of  the  Black  Hills. 

sand.  Scores  of  quartz  mills  have  been  erected  ; 
twelve  hundred  stamps  are  crushing  ore ;  the 
largest  quartz  mills  in  the  world  are  there  situated, 
and  over  six  millions  of  gold  are  being  annually 
produced. 

These  gold  excitements  have  usually  resulted 
unfortunately  to  the  many,  and  only  remunerative 
to  the  few.  They  have  generally  enriched  only 
the  capitalist,  who  came  with  the  necessary  means 
to  develop  the  mines.  On  the  whole,  they  have 
resulted  in  permanent  good  to  their  respective 
localities,  and  have  hastened  civilization  and  set-' 
dement  of  our  far  west,  greatly  in  advance  of 
what  could  possibly  have  been  accomplished  under 
different  circumstances.  That  in  the  end  they 
have  been  the  means  of  adding  great  wealth  to 
the  nation,  and  have  developed  the  vast  resources 
of  the  country — agricultural  as  well  as  mineral — \ 
which  would  have  otherwise  lain  dormant,  and 
that  they  were  a  powerful  agent  in  building  up 


VAST  DEPOSITS.  ^X 

cities  and  towns,  railroads,  mills  and  machinery, 
no  one  can  doubt.  • 

Perhaps  the  last,  and  by  no  means  the  least  of 
these  excitements  of  importance,  is  the  late  rush 
to  Leadville,  Colorado.  Here  has  been  built 
within  two  years  a  large  city  of  thirty  thousand 
inhabitants.  An  amount  of  silver  has  been  pro- 
duced in  the  district  never  before  equaled  for  the 
length  of  time,  by  any  country.  A  chapter  will  be 
devoted  to  this  wonderful  camp  hereafter. 

The  Annual  Product  of  the  United  States  in  1879. 

Thus  gradually  it  became  known  that  in  every 
State  and  Territory  west  of  the  one  hundredth 
meridian  (west  from  Greenwich),  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska excepted,  that  deposits  of  the  precious 
metals  existed. 

New  Mexico  and  Arizona  mines  became  pro- 
ducers in  i860,  although  worked  by  the  Spaniards 
and  Mexicans  nearly  a  century  before.  But  not 
until  the  close  of  our  civil  war,  in  1865,  did  work 
upon  them  become  active/and  not  until  the  pres- 
ent time  has  their  production  been  very  great, 
They  are  now  assuming  considerable  importance. 

Therefore,  in  four  States  and  eight  Territories, 
we  have  deposits  of  the  precious  metals  rivaling 
the  richest  known  mines  of  the  world,  and  the 
United  States  to-day  ranks  first  in  the  production 
of  gold  and  silver. 

It  is  estimated  from  reliable  sources  that  the 
3 


<>*  OTHER  PRECIOUS  METALS. 

total  annual  product  of  the  United  States  in  gold 
and  silver  bullion,  for  the  year  1879,  is  not  far 
from  seventy-four  millions  of  dollars.  And  there 
is  little  doubt  but  it  will  reach  nearly  one  hundred 
millions  in  1880. 

Owing  to  the  adoption  of  a  new  Constitution  in 
California,  imposing  great  taxes  and  restrictions 
upon  corporations,  labor  difficulties  and  other 
causes,  the  California  production  was  smaller  than 
usual.  Nevada  was  also  below  her  usual  produc- 
tion. But  revivals  are  taking  place  in  each  State, 
and  in  other  sections  the  increase  in  production 
being  great,  our  estimate  will  undoubtedly  be 
reached. 

Not  alone  in  the  precious  metals  has  the  rich- 
ness of  our  country,  west  of  the  meridian  named 
been  proven,  but  lead,  copper,  mica  and  coal  have 
been  found  in  most,  if  not  all  of  the  States  and 
Territories  named,  in  quantities  practically  inex- 
haustible. Arizona  has  probably  the  richest  cop- 
per mines  in  the  world,  and  coal  deposits  of  great 
extent,  which,  owing  to  its  isolated  and  far-off  po- 
sition, could  not  heretofore  be  made  available. 
The  Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  now  completed 
nearly  through  the  Territory,  will  soon  bring  her 
mines  into  prominence. 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  deep  gravel  de- 
posits and  ancient  river-beds  of  California  are  far 
from  being  exhausted,  being,  in  fact,  only  partially 
explored  as  yet,  and   that  the  gold  area  of  this 


NE  W  MINES  FUR  THEE  EAST.  « t- 

State  alone  is  equal  in  size  to  the  State  of  New- 
York,  can  it  be  wondered  that  our  Western 
Territories,  with  such  vast  and  inexhaustible  re- 
sources, have  suddenly  grown  into  populous 
States,  that  small  towns  have  in  a  short  time 
grown  into  large  cities,  and  that  poor  men  have, 
in  thousands  of  instances,  become  suddenly  en- 
riched from  the  sources  named,  and  that  in  the 
number  and  wealth  of  their  inhabitants,  the  States 
of  the  Pacific  Coast  are  in  a  fair  way  to  rival  those 
of  the  Atlantic  ? 

Gold  and  Silver  in  Arkansas— in  Maine. 

We  should  not,  however,  overlook  discoveries 
of  importance  which  have  been  made  further  east. 
Arkansas  and  Missouri  have  a  silver-bearing  min- 
eral belt,  which  promises  in  the  near  future  to  de- 
velop considerable  richness. 

The  Mount  Ida  mining  district,  in* Montgomery 
County,  Arkansas,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  famous 
Hot  Springs,  has  several  mining  companies  at 
work.  The  ore  is  a  gold  and  silver  free  milling 
ore,  which  gives  assays  of  from  twelve  to  twenty 
dollars  perton  near  the  surface.  Near  Silver  City, 
Ark.,  Galena  ore  is  found,  containing  silver  and 
lead. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  interest  being  taken  in 
this  new  mineral  region,  and  the  developments 
being  made  in  several  of  the  mines,  give  assurance 
of  a  mining  district  of  great  promise. 


36 


MINES  IN  MAINE. 


New  England  is  also  coming  to  the  front  as  a 
silver-producing  region. 

Maine  has  long  been  known  to  contain  small 
deposits  of  silver  and  copper  ores,  but  no  interest 
seems  to  have  been  taken  in  them  until  about 
two  years  ago  (in  1878).  Blue  Hill,  Maine,  had 
for  some  time  several  companies  working  cop- 
per mines,  carrying  a  small  amount  of  silver. 
These  discoveries  at  Blue  Hill  led  a  young  man, 
by  the  name  of  A.  A.  Messer,  who  had  mined  on 
the  Pacific  Coast,  to  prospect  for  mineral  along 
the  sea  coast,  near  the  village  of  West  Sullivan, 
about  twenty-five  miles  north-east  of  the  Blue 
Hill  copper  mines,  in  Hancock  County.  In  his 
walks  along  the  sea-shore,  on  the  spot  where  is 
now  the  Sullivan  shaft,  he  found  a  ledge  cropping 
out,  which  he  at  once  felt  contained  the  precious 
metal.  He  caused  assays  to  be  made,  which  proved 
satisfactory  enough  to  justify  further  examination, 

Silver  Mines  in  Maine. 

and,  in  connection  with  others,  without  capital, 
blasting  was  commenced  at  the  very  edge  of  the 
water,  almost  between  high  and  low  tide. 

A  lease  from  the  owners  of  the  land  for  all  of 
their  mineral  right  for  a  term  of  ninety-nine  years 
was  obtained  for  a  merely  nominal  sum.  They 
called  their  prospect  the  Sullivan  Mine ;  continued 
their  work  sinking  on  the.  ledge.  Developments 
were  satisfactory.     Attention  was  attracted  to  the 


SUCCESSFUL  STRIKE. 


37 


property,  and  it  was  purchased  by  Boston  capital- 
ists at  a  fabulous  price  for  the  little  town  of  Sulli- 
van, or,  indeed,  any  town  outside  of  large  cities. 

A  company  was  organized,  with  a  capital  of 
four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  divided  into  shares 
of  ten  dollars  each.  A  mining  engineer  of  Boston 
was  placed  in  charge,  with  Mr.  Messer,  the  dis- 
coverer, as  foreman.  They  sunk  a  shaft,  following 
the  course,  of  the  vein,  which  inclines  at  an  angle 
of  about  forty  degrees  toward  the  shore,  and 
commencing  with  the  vein,  only  twenty-two  inches 
wide  at  the  surface,  and  following  it  down  to  about 
one  hundred  and  forty  feet,  it  gradually  widened 
out  to  about  seven  feet  of  good  paying  ore.  The 
fissure  is  remarkably  distinct,  and  the  clay  sel- 
vages are  perfect.  A  lot  of  eight  tons  of  ore,  sent 
to  Balbach  &  Sons,  Jersey  City,  for  treatment, 
gave  them  three  hundred  and  forty-five  dollars 
pure  silver  from  the  lot.  Balbach  &  Sons  in- 
formed them  that  if  the  rock  had  been  properly 
"cobbed,"  as  it  should  have  been,  they  would  have 
had  in  that  sum  the  product  of  about  four  tons  of 
ore,  or  about  eighty-six  dollars  per  ton.  Later 
developments  have  increased  the  richness  of  the 
ore. 

Who  Discovered  Them,  and  How, 

This  discovery  at  Sullivan  proved  to  be  an  in- 
centive to  prospecting  all  over  the  State.  At 
Cherryfield  gold  veins  were  discovered.  At 
Gouldsboro,  ten  miles  from  Sullivan,  rock  was  dis- 


38 


TRIALS  OF  PIONEERS. 


covered  assaying  near  the  surface  at  one  hundred 
and  seventy  dollars  per  ton.  Extensions  to  the 
Sullivan  mine  were  found,  and  two  or  three  more 
companies  organized  to  work  on  the  vein.  Thus 
the  "boom"  in  mining  has  been  inaugurated  in 
Maine,  which  may  prove  the  beginning  of  an  im- 
portant industry.  Already  there  are  over  sixty 
incorporated  companies,  and  the  stock  of  the  Sul- 
livan mine  is  selling  at  fourteen  dollars^  per  share, 
of  the  par  value  of  only  ten  dollars.  So,  it  would 
seem  that  capitalists  have  confidence  in  the  mining 
resources  of  Maine. 

The  Cost  of  Living  in  the  Early  Days  of  California. 

To  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  great  cost  of 
living  in  the  early  days  of  California,  when  pro- 
visions, clothing  and  tools  had  to  be  carted  over 
poor  roads,  long  distances,  or  "packed"  on  the 
backs  of  mules,  over  a  mere  trail  for  hundreds  of 
miles ;  when  a  common  Irish  potato  sold  for  a  dol- 
lar, and  when  a  pinch  of  gold  dust  just  paid  for  a 
"  chaw  of  tobacco ;"  when  a  doctor  did  not  look  at 
a  patient  for  less  than  twenty  dollars,  and  bread 
was  two  dollars  per  pound.  Such  facts  we  think 
may  help  us  to  an  appreciation  of  the  trials  which 
those  pioneers  of  California  endured.  What  was 
true  of  California,  in  this  respect,  was  also  true,  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  of  all  the  sections  in  the 
far  West  where  mining  has  been  prosecuted. 

An  extract  from  the  diary  of  the  parish  priest 


FANCY  PRICES, 


39 


of  Sonora,  California,  in  1852,  says:*  "Eggs  were 
worth  one  dollar  each;  bread,  two  dollars  per 
pound;  chickens,  ten  to  twelve  dollars  each:  a 
turkey  sold  for  twenty  dollars ',  and  everything  else 
in  proportion." 

High  Prices  of  Living  in  1849— The  Cost  of  a  Meal. 

A  gentleman  writing  east  from  California,  in 
1849,  thus  gives  the  items  of  cost  of  a  single  meal 
eaten  by  himself  and  companion,  at  Coloma  or 
at  Marshall's  Mill,  the  place  where  gold  was  first 
discovered.  After  calling  for  the  articles  at  a 
grocery,  he  says:  "  We  ate  and  drank  with  great 
gusto,  and  when  we  had  concluded  our  repast, 
called  for  the  bill.  It  was  such  a  curiosity  in  the 
annals  of  a  retail  grocery  business  that  I  preserve 
it,  and  here  are  the  items ;  it  may  remind  some  of 
Falstaff's  famous  bill  for  bread  and  sack. 


One  box  of  Sardines,     . 

#16  00 

One  pound  of  Hard  Bread,    . 

2  00 

One  pound  of  Butter,   . 

6  00 

A  half  pound  of  Cheese,        .                  , 

3  °° 

Two  bottles  of  Ale,       .         •         • 

,          16  00 

Total,         .         .         . 

#43  °o 

or  twenty-one   and   a   half  dollars  apiece  for  a 
single  meal.'* 


*  See  United  States  Commissioner  R.  W.  Raymond's  Mining  Statistics. 


40 


STAR  VA  TION  RA  TES. 


In  an  extract*  from  one  of  the  books  kept  at 
Sutter's  store,  in  1849,  at  Sacramento,  the  year 
after  the  discovery  of  gold,  goods  are  charged  at 
the  following  prices: 


Two  White  Shirts, 

.  .      $40  00 

One  Fine  Comb, 

6  00 

Three  pounds  Crackers, 

3  °° 

One  barrel  Mess  Pork, 

210  00 

Two  pounds  Mackerel, 

5  °° 

Four  pounds  Nails, 

3  °° 

One  paper  of  Tacks, 

3  °° 

One  pair  of  Socks, 

3  00 

One  pound  Gunpowder, 

10  00 

One  Hat, 

.  10  00 

One  pair  of  Shoes, 

14  00 

Thirteen  pounds  Ham, 

27  00 

Thirty  pounds  Sugar,    . 

18  00 

One  keg  of  Lard, 

70  50 

One  pair  of  Blankets,    . 

24  00 

One  pound  Butter, 

2  50 

Fifty  pounds  Beans, 

25  00 

Two  hundred  pounds  Flour, 

150  00 

Here  is  an  authentic  and  reliable  schedule  of 
prices  during  the  great  rush,  and  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  hosts  of  miners  became  intensely 
poor  under  the  burden  of  such  high  prices,  and 
suffered  every  privation,  and  almost  starvation 
itself,  for  the  sake  of  searching  for  gold. 

That  any  one  could  make  anything,  can  only  be 
accounted  for  by  the  proportionately  high  wages 

*  See  John  F.  Parson's  Biography  of  J.  W.  Marshall. 


RICH  STRIKES.  -  j 

paid  for  all  kinds  of  labor,  and  the  great  richness 
of  the  gold-fields,  which  enabled  some  lucky  miners 
to  make  rich  strikes  and  proportionately  "big  pay" 
from  the  auriferous  sands  and  placer  mines  of  the 
State. 

In  the  next  chapter  will  be  found  a  description 
of  Gold-Saving  Apparatus,  and  a  record  of  some 
of  the  "rich  strikes"  of  the  early  days  of  gold 
mining. 


CHAPTER  II. 

PLACER  MINING — ANCIENT  RIVER-BEDS — TABLE  MOUNTAIN,  CAL. — SURFACE 
MINING  AND  DEEP  GRAVEL  MINING — THE  BLUE  LEAD— QUARTZ  THE 
MOTHER  OF  GOLD — HOW  PLACER  DEPOSITS  WERE  FORMED — THE  BED- 
ROCK— GOLD-SAVING  APPARATUS — THE  SPECIFIC  GRAVITY  OF  GOLD — OF 

.  OTHER  METALS — WINNOWING  GOLD — THE  PAN  PROCESS — THE  CRADLE, 
OR  ROCKER— THE  LONG  TOM— AMALGAMATION  WITH  QUICKSILVER — 
HYDRAULIC  MINING — THE  NOVEL  INVENTION,  AND  WHERE  FIRST  USED — 
THE  INVENTOR  UNKNOWN — THE  SLUICE— WATER  BROUGHT  OVER  FIFTY 
MILES  TO  DRY  DIGGINGS — BANK  BLASTS  OF  FIFTY  TONS  OF  POWDER — 
CLEANING  UP  THE  SLUICES — RETORTING  THE  AMALGAM — CASTING  THE 
GOLD  BRICKS — RICH  STRIKES — A  TWO  THOUSAND  EIGHT  HUNDRED 
DOLLAR  NUGGET — THE  LARGEST  PIECE  OF  GOLD  ($6,000) — AN  EIGHT 
THOUSAND  DOLLAR  FIND — A  BUILDING  TORN  DOWN  FOR  THE  GOI D 
BENEATH  IT — ALDER  GULCH,  MONTANA — CONFEDERATE  GULCH,  MON- 
TANA— MARVELOUS  DIGGINGS — ALADDIN-LIKE  WEALTH — ONE  THOU- 
SAND DOLLARS  TO  THE  PAN  OF  EARTH — COARSE  GOLD  AND  NUGGETS — 
DIAMONDS  IN  CALIFORNIA — DIAMONDS — HOW  TO  RECOGNIZE  THEM. 

Placer  Mining. 

GOLD  mining  is  divided  into  two  classes. 
Placer  mining  and  quartz  mining. 
Placer  mining  is  understood  to  consti- 
tute all  deposits  of  gold  not  found  in  the  shape  of 
veins  of  ore,  or  incased  within  walls  of  rock,  but 
are  those  deposits  of  gravel  or  alluvial  soil  con- 
taining particles  of  gold  which  have  been,  by  the 
forces  of  nature,  loosened  from  their  original  quartz 
matrix  and  distributed  through  the  gravel  beds 
and  sands  of  the  earth,  wherever  the  agency  of 
water  could  carry  them — in  a  pure  state  and  gen- 
erally free  from  admixture  with  other  minerals. 

42 


DEEP  MINE  WORK. 


Surface  mining,  or  washing  for  precious  metals,  is  the  simplest  and  least  expensive 
form  of  seeking  these  valuable  commodities.  But  such  are  the  values  of  some  veins  of 
gold  and  silver  bearing  quartz  that  mines  have  been  sunk  over  twenty-five  hundred  feet 
in  depth,  involving  immense  expense  and  Herculean  labors  in  their  working.  Virginia 
City,  Nevada,  is  the  great  centre  of  such  work. 


KINDS  OF  MINING,  ** 

By  quartz  mining  is  understood  veins  of  gold  or 
silver  found  in  the  solid  rock  in  the  shape  of  ores, 
either  free  or  mixed  with  other  minerals,  or  with 
each  other,  but  which  must  go  through  a  mill  pro- 
cess to  become  available  for  any  useful  purpose. 

Placer  mining  may  also  be  divided  into  two 
classes,  surface  mining  and  deep  gravel  mining. 
The  former  operated  with  water  upon  the  surface 
of  the  earth  by  means  of  "sluicing  "  or  other  wash- 
ing processes,  the  latter  by  tunnels  or  shafts,  or 
both,  into  ancient  channels  or  river-beds,  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  to  the  surface  the  auriferous 
gravels  to  be  washed.  The  latter  also  requiring 
the  aid  of  capital  to  bring  up  the  riches  from  below, 
and  the  former  being  the  kind  of  deposits  chiefly 
sought  for  and  which  can  be  worked  by  individual 
labor  single  handed.  Hydraulic  mining  is  placer 
mining  worked  by  the  aid  of  large  streams  of 
water  thrown  against  a  gravel  bank  or  hill,  at  a 
great  pressure  by  means  of  flumes,  ditches  and 
cotton  hose,  from  a  point  high  above  the  place  to 
be  washed,  the  water  being  thrown  with  tremen- 
dous force   against  the  earth,  removing   it  very 

Ancient  Kiyer-Beds. 

rapidly.  Hydraulic  mining  usually  belongs  to  the 
class  here  termed  surface  mining.  But  the  pro- 
cess has  been  applied  to  both  kinds  of  gravel 
mining  in1  California. 

The  class  of  deposits  known  as  the  ancient  river 


.  £  AN  ANCIENT  CHANNEL . 

channels  or  the  "  blue  lead"  of  California,  and  which 
kind  of  deposits  seem  to  be  confined  to  that  State, 
are  gold-bearing  gravels  found  deep  beneath  the 
surface,  and  are  frequently  found  beneath  a  moun- 
tain of  lava,  or  volcanic  earth.  They  are  pene- 
trated by  long  tunnels  or  inclined  shafts  until  a 
stratum  of  gravel  and  clay  is  struck,  showing 
plainly  the  evidences  of  an  ancient  river-bed,  which 
is  usually  rich  in  gold. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  T.  A.  Ayers  while  pros- 
pecting near  Table  Mountain,  California,  was  led 
to  believe  that  the  hill  composed  of  lava,  of  that 
name,  rising  some  twelve  hundred  feet  above  the 
surrounding  country,  had  formerly  been  the  course 
of  an  ancient  river.  A  tunnel  was  commenced  by 
him,  and  after  some  progress  had  been  attained, 
he  became  discouraged  and  it  was  abandoned,  but 
others  carried  it  through,  and  struck  the  interior 
bed  of  an  ancient  channel,  in  which  were  found 
gold-bearing  deposits  of  fabulous  richness.  The 
news  spread,  and  the  country  was  quickly  staked 
off  into  claims.  Other  mines  of  a  similar  class 
were  found,  and  the  bed  of  the  ancient  river  has 
been  traced  for  several  miles.  Some  of  these  are 
among  the  richest  mines  of  California.  These  re- 
quire capital  to  work  them  successfully,  and  are 
usually  worked  by  large  companies.  The  aurifer- 
ous character  of  this  ancient  channel  was  first  dis- 
covered in  1854,  near  Shaw's  Flat,  in5  Tuolume 
County,  California,  and,  it  is  said,  was  discovered 


MOUTH  OF  THE  MINE. 


HAND-DRILLING  IN  THE  MINE. 


FIVE  DOLLARS  A  BUCKET.  *j 

accidentally  by  some  miners  working  where  the 
denudation  of  the  lava  crust  exposed  the  channel, 
and  the  richest  ground  of  this  part  of  the  State. 

Deep  Gravel  Mining. 

As  late  as  1855-56  some  claims  yielded  ten  to 
twelve  pounds  of  gold  per  day,  for  many  consecu- 
tive days,  or  from  two  thousand  to  two  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars  per  day.  In  the  excitement 
which  followed  the  discovery  almost  the  whole 
length  of  the  mountain  was  located,  and  hundreds 
of  tunnels  run  to  strike  the  channel,  many  of  them 
without  success,  and  resulted  in  failure. 

The  Hughes'  claim,  on  the  channel,  is  worked 
by  a  tunnel,  and  pays  about  five  dollars  per  cubic 
yard  of  gravel,  which  is  mined  and  run  out  on  cars 
and  washed  in  sluices.  The  width  of  the  channel 
varies  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred 
feet,  and  the  gravel  is  about  twenty  feet  thick,  but 
the  paying  portion  is  about  four  feet  of  the  bottom. 
Other  claims  have  developed  pay  of  about  the 
same  description,  but  some  were  immensely  rich. 

The  Turner's  flat  gravel  deposit,  a  part  of  the 
Table  Mountain  channel,  yielded  about  one  million 
dollars  before  operations  were  suspended ;  the 
gravel  at  fche  bottom  having  paid  as  high -as  five 
dollars  per  bucketful ;  ten  dollars  per  cubic  yard 
has  been  frequently  averaged  for  a  time  in  these 
travels. 

Very  few  of  the  miners  of  1849-50  knew  any- 


48 


PRIMITIVE  IGNORANCE. 


thing  about  the  scientific  principles  of  gold  and 
.  silver  mining,  as  now  carried  on.  Perhaps  had  they 
known  more  of  the  geological  structure  of  the  rocks, 
much  needless  prospecting  would  not  have  been 
done.  But  gold  was  so  plentiful  then,  that  search 
for  it  in  the  gravel  along  the  streams,  in  the  bars, 
and  in  the  bottoms  of  the  creeks  and  rivers,  was 
all  that  was  attempted,  without  considering  the 
source  from  which  came  ft.ll  these  deposits. 

Quartz,  the  "Mother  of  Gold." 

Hence  it  was  that  search  for  gold  was  instituted 
almost  everywhere.  The  soil  was  turned  up  for 
that  purpose  in  many  places  entirely  barren  of 
auriferous  deposits ;  and  we  presume  that  but  a 
very  small  portion  of  the  miners  knew  but  what 
gold  grew  in  the  ground,  and  was  originated  in 
the  shape  they  found  it — in  the  form  of  "dust," 
and  that  such  was  its  natural  state.  They  un- 
doubtedly learned  better  by  experience  a  little 
later;  but  it  is  well  known  that  the  early  miners 
paid  very  little  attention  to  quartz  veins.  Such 
veins  were  passed  by  as  of  little  account  in  those 
early  days.  They  had  not  learned  that  gold  in  its 
original  state  as  a  mineral  was  imbedded  in  veins 
of  quartz  usually  within  granite,  slate  or  porphyry 
walls,  and  was  not  scattered  along  the  streams,  in 
banks  of  gravel,  in  the  form  of  gold  dust — except 
as  it  had  been  washed  out  of  the  rocks  by  the 
streams,  and  worn  down  from  the  ledges  by  the 


FORMATION  OF  GOLD  DEP0SI7S.  *g 

/ 

elements — the  winds  and  the  rains — and  had  been 
carried  down  by  the  floods  from  the  mountains, 
and  deposited  in  the  sands  along  the  valleys. 
Such  was  the  origin  of  placer  mines,  and  there- 
fore quartz  has  been  termed  the  "  Mother  of 
Gold.', 

Later,  quartz  prospectors  learning  these  facts, 
used  them  to  their  advantage  in  searching  for 
veins  of  quartz  or  lodes  of  ore,  and  following  up 
the  drift  or  "float"  rock,  which  had  been  carried 
down  by  the  streams,  found  the  original  veins 
from  which  they  came. 

How  Placer  Deposits  were  Formed. 

Such  is  still  the  manner  of  searching  for  veins 
of  ore.  As  to  the  origin  of  placer  deposits  and 
deep  gravel  beds,  or  ancient  rivers  of  California 
and  other  sections,  it  should  first  be  understood 
that  the  accumulation  of  these  deposits  was  a  very 
slow  one,  and  humanly  speaking,  a  very  long  one, 
and  probably  occupied  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
years. 

At  the  time  their  formation  began,  the  crust  or 
surface  of  the  earth  was  everywhere  a  solid  rock, 
uncovered  by  any  alluvial  deposits,  or  soil,  or 
vegetable  growth  of  any  sort.  The  naked  rock, 
barren  and-  rugged,  and  diversified  as  now  by 
mountains,  valleys,  hills  and  depressions  in  '  its 
surface,  was  all  that  could  be  seen  upon  the 
earth.     Then  there  came  a  time  when  rains  and 


rQ  DEVELOPMENTS. 

snows  began  to  fall  upon  the  mountains,  and 
water  began  to  flow  down  the  hillsides,  and  follow 
the  depressions  of  the  rocky  surface.  Springs 
began  to  issue  from  the  crevices  of  the  rocks, 
creeks  and  rivers  began  to  seek  the  lowest  valleys 
and  passes  between  the  hills  and  mountains — 
small  ones  at  first,  because  rain  and  snow  were  not 
plentiful  at  once,  but  storms  gradually  increased 
in  size  and  extent.  Small  streams  gradually  be- 
came mountain  torrents,  cutting  into  their  rocky 
beds  deep  channels,  and  at  other  points  filling  up 
valleys  and  depressions ;  ponds  and  lakes  of  still 
water,  with  the  debris  they  washed  from  above. 
Frost  came  to  crack  and  loosen  particles  of  rock 
from  the  overhanging  walls  of  mountains,  winds 
and  hurricanes  blew  down  dust  and  particles  of 
stone;  all  these  agencies,  working  together  to 
produce  an  alluvial  deposit  of  sand,  gravel  and 
earth,  which  always  lodged  in  the  lowest  valleys 
and  sheltered  depressions  of  the  then  nude  surface 
of  the  earth,  gradually  filling  them  up  to  a  level 
with  higher  ground. 

The  streams  in  whose  channels  the  ancient 
gravels  were  accumulated,  were  probably  shallow, 
ones,  and  were  subject  to  great  variation  in  the 
amount  of  water  they  carried.  Sometimes  they 
were  but  small  rivulets,  at  others  mountain  tor- 
rents, completely  filling  up  and  running  over  the 
banks  of  the  depression  they  occupied,  into  other 
depressions  of  the  surface  near  at  hand,  carrying 


CHANGES  01  CENTURIES.  cj 

their  debris  with  them  into  others,  and  forming 
entirely  new  beds  or  courses.  Thus,  as  the  val- 
leys they  first  occupied  became  filled  up  or  ob- 
structed, they  were  constantly  changing  their 
courses  into  other  and  new  channels;  thus  the 
process  went  on,  slowly  but  surely. 

The  time  occupied  by  these  changes  was  a  long 
one — longer  perhaps  than  geologists  have  esti- 
mated. At  length,  over  a  vast  extent  the  lower 
depressions  became  filled  up,  and  rose  higher  and 
higher  until  every  square  foot  of  the  bed-rock  was 
covered  to  a  greater  or  less  depth  with  these  de- 
posits, excepting,  of  course,  the  highest  mountains. 

It  must  have  frequently  happened,  therefore, 
that  large  rivers, N  after  occupying  one  channel 
for  ages  perhaps,  in  the  course  of  time  entirely 
changed  their  courses.  Probably  often  getting 
miles  away  from  their  original  beds,  sometimes 
even  crossing  the  old  channel  obliquely  or  at  right 
angles.  Thus  it  may  be  seen  how  ancient  river 
bottoms  and  gravel  banks  may  be  found  at  the 
present  day  hundreds  of  feet  beneath  the  surface, 
or,  as  in  the  case  of  Table  Mountain,  California, 

The  Bed-Rock. 

beneath  a  hill  of  lava,  deposited  there  by  volcanic 
action  after  the  river-bed  was  formed. 

As  will  be  seen,  the  gold  was  originally  de- 
posited in  cracks  or  fissures  in  the  naked  rocks 
we  have  described.  These  have  been  properly 
called  veins. 

4 


c2  METHODS  AND  CONTRIVANCES. 

As  the  streams  crossed  or  traversed  these  veins 
of  ore,  as  they  must  have  done,  since  they  swept 
over,  in  their  changing  courses,  nearly  every  foot 
of  the  earth's  surface,  they  worked  down  from 
the  mountains  above  and  from  wherever  such 
veins  existed  the  particles  of  gold  and  the  nug- 
gets loosed  from  their  quartz  matrix  by  the  influ- 
ence of  water,  the  atmosphere  and  the  frosts,  and 
deposited  them  in  the  valleys  below  along  the 
streams  and  among  the  gravels  we  have  described. 
Gold  being  most  the  heaviest  of  all  substances, 
naturally  sought  the  lowest  places  in  the  channels 
and  became  deposited  richest  next  the  bed-rock  as 
found  at  the  present  time. 

Hence  it  is  that  in  placer  mining  miners  always 
search  to  find  the  bed-rock,  as  nearest  to  the  rock 
and  in  the  waves  and  uneven  depressions  of  its 
surface  they  find  the  richest  pockets  of  auriferous 
earth. 

The  early  miners  gradually  learned  by  experi- 
ence some  of  the  facts  related  above,  and  began 
to  put  them  to  practical  use  in  determining  their 
search  for  the  precious  metals,  and  to  adopt 
methods  and  contrivances  to  aid  them  in  collect- 
ing the  metal,  which  they  gave  various  names, 
such  as  "The  Rocker,"  "The  Long  Tom,"  "The 
Sluice "  and  "  The  Hydraulic,"  some  of  which  we 
will  describe. 

All  gold-saving  contrivances  are  constructed  in 
view  of  the  principle  of  the  greater  specific  gravity 


EARL  V  ME  THODS.  e  3 

of  gold  over  that  of  all  other  minerals  or  sub- 
stances, except  platinum  (which  is  a  rare  mineral, 

Gold-saying'  Apparatus, 

and  less  plentiful  than  gold).  The  specific  gravity 
of  platinum  being  20.98;  of  gold,  19.26;  silver, 
ic. 5;  mercury  or  cinnabar  (quicksilver),  8 ;  cop- 
per, 8.5  ;  iron,  4  to  5.  The  superior  gravity  of 
gold,  therefore,  will  cause  it  to  sink  even  in  swift- 
running  water,  while  the  dirt  and  other  substances 
is  being  carried  on  by  the  current,  or  as  in  the 
winnowing  process,  described  later,  allowing  the 
dirt  to  be  blown  away  in  the  wind,  the  gold  being 
retained. 

During  the  first  excitement  of  gold  discovery, 
miners  rushed  to  the  scene  without  tools,  and 
almost  without  contrivances  of  any  kind.  As  tools 
ahd  materials  of  all  kinds  were  extraordinarily  high, 
they  were  compelled  to  use  the  most  ordinary  and 
poorly-constructed  machines;  in  some  instances 
having  to  hew  their  timber  out  of  logs  and  split 
out  their  boards  by  hand,  and  hew  them  into  shape 
with  axes.  . 

Such  being  the  state  of  things,  they  could  only 
use  such  methods  as  were  within  their  reach,  and 
it  is  asserted  that  one  of  the  earliest,  and  a  favorite 
method,  was  simply  by  the  use  of  a  common  sheath- 
knife  ;  to  traverse  the  country  and  to  pry  out  the 
shining  particles  with  the  knife  from  the  stones 
and  decayed  ledges,  and  in  picking  up  all  that 


ca  VARIOUS  PROCESSES. 

could  be  found  on  the  surface.  In  this  way,  it  is 
said,  thousands  of  dollars  were  gathered  during 
the  first  year  in  California. 

"Winnowing." 

A  process  called  winnowing,  or  the  dry  process, 
was  of  very  early  origin  among  the  Mexicans, 
which  they  used  in  diggings  that  were  found  dis- 
tant from  streams  of  water.  The  auriferous  earth 
was  first  collected  and  thoroughly  dried  in  the  sun, 
and  reduced  to  a  fine  powder.  The  process  then 
consisted  in  putting  the  earth  in  a  blanket,  and 
two  men,  one  taking  each  end  of  the  blanket,  hold- 
ing it  by  the  corners,  commenced  throwing  it  up 
in  the  wind,  the  dust  or  earthy  particles  blowing 
away  with  the  wind,  and  the  gold,  by  its  superior 
gravity,  falling  back  on  the  blanket. 

This  process  was  continued  until  only  the  gold 
dust  and  coarser  dirt  and  stones  remained,  which 
were  separated  by  washing  in  the  pan. 

The  Panning  Process, 

which  is  still  the  method  used  by  prospectors  in 
new  regions,  consists  of  a  tin  or  sheet-iron  pan, 
not  unlike  an  ordinary  milk-pan.  Selecting  the 
richest  auriferous  earth,  the  operator  places  a 
small  portion  in  the  pan,  water  is  introduced,  when 
he  proceeds  to  swing  it  around  in  a  circle,  hori- 
zontally, by  a  quick  movement,  which  loosens  the 
dirt  from  the  gold  by  the  action  of  the  water,  care 


CHINESE  PROCESS.  cy 

being  taken  not  to  upset  the  dish.  The  centrif- 
ugal force  of  the  movement,  and  the  superior 
gravity  of  the  gold  causing  it  to  settle  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  dish,  a  portion  of  the  dirty  water  being 
"  slopped'  o'ver  the  sides  at  each  turn  of  the  hand. 
This  is  persevered  in  until  the  water  is  nearly  all 
thrown  out,  and  only  the  coarser  dirt  and  gold  re- 
mains, which  can  be  separated  by  hand.  This 
operation  requires  some  skill,  but  miners  soon  be- 
come expert  in  it.  In  this  way  much  gold  was 
saved  in  the  days  of  '49. 

"Cradle,  or  Rocker." 

Another  contrivance  was  the  so-called  cradle,  or 
rocker,  which  is  in  some  instances  still  in  use  in 
Chinese  camps  and  new  districts,  consisting  of  a 
rude  trough,  with  a  plank  or  board  for  a  bottom 
and  two  side  pieces.  It  was  from  five  to  twelve 
feet  long,  closed  at  one  end,  the  other  end  being 
left  open  to  admit  water.  Underneath  were  two 
rockers,  similar  to  those  on  a  cradle  or  chair, 
usually  resting  on  boards,  which  allow  of  its  being 
rocked  easily.  A  small  stream  of  water  is  admit- 
ted at  the  open  end,  and  allowed  to  run  down  the 
inclined  bottom  toward  the  closed  end,  the  box 
soon  becomes  filled  and  running  over  with  water 
at  the  closed  end.  The  auriferous  earth  being 
shoveled  into  it,  and  rocking  begun,  the  dirty 
water  is  splashed  out  similar  to  the  panning  pro- 
cess, the  gold  and  pebbles  settling  to  the  bottom, 


58 


ANOTHER  STYLE. 


and  most  of  the  dirt  escapes  with  the  water.  The 
water  can  be  shut  off,  the  pebbles  thrown  out,  and 
the  process  repeated  until  the  gold  only  remains. 

Another  style  of  rocker,  much  in  use,  was  one 
of  four  sides,  upon  rockers  also.  It  was,  perhaps, 
two  feet  wide  by  four  feet  long,  made  with  two 
compartments,  a  smaller  box  setting  on  top,  and 
at  one  end  of  the  larger  one,  of  perhaps  two  feet 
square,  had  either  a  slat  or  a  wire-sieve  bottom, 
which  allowed  the  gold  and  fine  dirt  to  be  washed 
through  into  the  box  beneath.  Into  this  smaller 
box  the  earth  was  placed,  the  water  dipped  into 
it  with  one  hand,  and  rocking  commenced  with  the 
other ;  the  principle  of  saving  the  gold  being  the 
same  as  in  the  rocker  first  described.  The  latter 
machine,  however,  allowed  the  water  to  pass  off 
more  freely  than  the  former,  having  a  place  of 
escape  in  the  under  box,  and  also  cleats  across  its 
bottom  to  retain  the  gold. 

We  shall  describe  in  this  connection  one  more 
machine,  which  succeeded  the  cradle,  and  was  an 
improvement  upon  it.  It  was  called  the  "  Long 
Tom." 

The  Long  Tom 

is  similar  in  construction  to  the  longer  cradle  first 
described.  But  it  is  wider  and  longer  than  that, 
being  about  twenty  feet  long,  and  is  shallow.  It 
is  placed  at  an  incline  of  a  few  degrees  from  level, 
and  a  stream  of  water  introduced  into  the  upper 
end.     About  midway  in  its  length  an  iron  or  wire 


i   A 


;       1   fc 


i,!i;:.i:i 


m 

mm 


r'v  $M 


■  * 


r:::|!?iiiiv|:li»yM!|ii-.ir.    «  f^M;;,    #<:*''*'  ■    ^  - , h. jsi  iMiiJilirflP 


USE  OF  QUICKSILVER.  5^ 

sieve  turns  up  on  an  incline  from  the  bottom, 
through  which  the  water  and  fine  earth  must  pass, 
but  which  is  intended  to  prevent  the  pebbles  and 
larger  stones  from  passing  further  down.  Below 
the  sieve  are  riffles  or  cleats,  nailed  across  the 
bottom  in  several  places,  against  which  the  gold 
dust  is  expected  to  lodge.  Into  this  running 
stream  of  water  the  gold-bearing  earth  is  shoveled, 
and  is  constantly  stirred  up  by  one  man,  and 
usually  a  fork  with  many  tines,  resembling  a  ma- 
nure fork,  is  used  to  throw  out  the  gravel  and 
stones  which  collect  on  the  sieve.  In  this  way 
several  tons  of  earth  can  be  washed  in  a  day,  and 
at  night  the  stream  stopped  out,  and  the  gold  dust 
collected  from  above  the  cleats,  where  it  has 
lodged.  Sometimes  quicksilver  is  placed  above 
the  cleats,  to  assist  in  catching  the  gold  by  amal- 

Amalgamation  frith  Qnicksilrer. 

gamation,  a  process  used  in  nearly  all  the  hydrau- 
lic machines,  and  which  we  will  describe. 

It  appears  that  gold  and  quicksilver  are  pecu- 
liarly and  strongly  attracted  to  each  other,  and 
that  quicksilver,  although  not  so  heavy  as  gold 
and  silver,  is  still  of  a  much  greater  specific  gravity 
than  water,  and  will  sink  in  quite  a  strong  current. 

The  miners  having  learned  of  the  great  attrac- 
tion of  the  two  metals  for  each  other,  and  quick- 
silver being  comparatively  cheap  (being  worth 
about  forty  cents  per  pound),  they  have  used  it 


64 


COST  OF  HANDLING. 


very  largely  in  both  hydraulic  and  quartz  mining 
operations,  and  it  contributes  very  much  to  the 
success  of  such  mining.  In  hydraulic  mining, 
which  we  will  proceed  to  describe,  quicksilver  per- 
forms a  very  important  office,  and  miners,  at  this 
time,  would  hardly  know  how  to  get  along  without 
it.  The  economy  of  human  labor  effected  by  the 
hydraulic  method  of  mining,  over  that  of  all  others, 
is  so  great  that  a  Mr.  Black,  mining  expert  of  San 
Francisco,  in  a  report  upon  some  hydraulic  mines 
of  the  State  of  California,  in  1864,  estimates  that, 
'While  the  cost  of  handling  a  cubic  yard  of  aurif- 
erous gravel  with  the  pan  is  twenty  dollars,  with 
the  rocker  five  dollars,  and  with  the  Long  Tom 
one  dollar,  with  the  hydraulic  process  it  is  only 
twenty  cents."  Therefore,  the  reader  can  perceive 
what  great  improvements  have  been  made  over 
the  methods  described  above.  We  would  here 
say  that  the  figures  in  regard  to  hydraulic  mining, 
being  old,  are  now  somewhat  behind  the  times, 
and  that  gravel  containing  twenty  cents .  to  the 
cubic  yard  has  been  made  to  pay  good  profits  to 
the  hydraulic  miner,  as  will  be  learned  hereafter. 

Hydraulic  Mining 

dates  back  to  1852,  a  time  when  the  shallower  and 
richer  surface  deposits  began  to  be  worked  out. 
Everywhere  along  the  streams  where  bed-rock 
was  near  the  surface,  it  had  been  denuded  and 
cleaned  of  its  precious  deposits.     There  still  re- 


A  MOUNTAIN  LAKE. 


A  NOVEL  MACHINE. 


69 


mained  hills  and  mountains,  and  vast  beds  of 
auriferous  gravels,  where  bed-rock  was  from 
twenty  to  hundreds  of  feet  beneath  the  surface, 
too  deep  and  the  gold  too  unevenly  distributed 
through  them  to  pay  the  ordinary  pan  miner  to 
wash  it.  Necessity  then  became  the  mother  of 
invention.  Some  new  and  cheaper  method  must 
be  devised  to  remove  these  deposits  and  extract 
their  riches. 

Thus  stood  matters  in  1852,  when  a  miner, 
whose  name  is  not  now  known,  put  up  a.  novel 
machine  on  his  claim,  at  "Yankee  Jim,"  in  Placer 
County,  California.  He  had  dug  a  ditch  or  race 
from  a  small  stream,  conducting  it  along  the 
mountain  side  until  opposite  his  claim,  from  which 
point  he  constructed  a  flume  or  spout  upon  tres- 
tles part  way  across  the  valley  until  a  "head"  or 
perpendicular  height  of  forty  feet  was  attained. 
Here  he  discharged  the  water  into  a  barrel,  at  the 
bottom  of  which  was  attached  a  hose  made  of  raw- 
hide, six  inches  in  diameter,  ending  in  a  tin  nozzle, 
tapering  down  to  one  inch. 

This  stream,  when  directed  against  his  bank  of 
gravel,  with  the  force  given  by  the  "head"  at- 
tained, caused  it  to  wash  away  and  melt  before^ the 
fierce  current  with  astonishing  rapidity.  It  was 
simple  in  its  construction,  and  easily  directed  to 
any  desired  point. 

The  stream,  after  playing  against  the  bank,  was 
caught  below  in  a  "sluice"  or  flume  of  boards 


yQ  NEW  INVENTIONS. 

many  feet  in  length/  through  which  the  muddy 
water  and  debris  was  rushed  over  cleats  or  riffles,  in 
which  quicksilver  was  placed  for  catching  the  gold. 

The  news  of  the  invention  spread  among  the 
miners.  Its  usefulness  was  at  once  apparent. 
Oriiers  were  not  slow  in  copying  after  this  ingeni- 
ous "  hydraulic,"  as  it  was  named,  and  the  founda- 
tion of  a  new  system  of  mining  was  lain.  Im- 
provements became  at  once  in  order.  Better 
hose  from  cotton-duck  or  canvas  was  supplied. 
Nozzles  of  iron,  longer  ditches,  iron  pipes,  greater 
vertical  heights  were  attained,  until  a  power  suffi- 
cient to  remove  acres  of  gravel  and  hundreds  of 
cubic  yards  of  earth  per  day  was  brought  into 
requisition.  Thus  this  little  invention,  small  at 
first,  grew  and  increased  in  power  until  mountains 
were  leveled,  and  hills  were  removed  and  washed 
down  through  the  sluice-boxes.  The  whole  face 
of  nature  was  changed  by  it.  The  bed-rock  be- 
came denuded,  great  boulders  uncovered,  and  the 
whole  country,  in  course  of  time,  became  torn  and 
rent  as  if  with  an  earthquake. 

But  there  came  a  time  when  difficulties  arose  to 
check  its  progress.  Water  was  scarce.  Many 
banks  of  gravel  were  situated  too  far  from  water 
or  too  high  above  it  to  be  reached. 

Most  of  the  claims  where  water  was  available 
were  small  ones,  owned  by  many  different  indi- 
viduals, and  too  small  to  pay  for  the  expense  of 
flumes  and  ditches. 


WASHING  DOWN  THE  GOLD  HILLS. 


JJf.tHu.mfe, 


WASHING  GOLD  WITH  THE  SHAKER. 


HYDRAULIC  MINING.  j« 

Cement  deposits  of  gravel  were  found  so  hard 
as  to  defy  even  the  powerful  hydraulic  to  dissolve 
them,  and  the  miner  of  small  means  found  a  limit 
to  the  profitable  working  of  his  new  machine.  At 
this  time  capital  came  to  the  rescue.  Canals  or 
ditches  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  miles  in  length 
were  constructed,  supplying  plenty  of  water,  which 
was  leased  to  small  claim-holders  at  so  much  per 
cubic  inch.  Small  claims  were  purchased  and 
consolidated.  -  Bank-blasts  of  from  five  to  fifty 
tons  of  powder  were  exploded  to  prepare  the 
ground  for  the  action  of  water;  vertical  heights 
obtained  sufficient  to  reach  the  dryest  placers ; 
chasms  of  a  thousand  feet  vertical  depth  were  suc- 
cessfully crossed  by  means  of  huge  iron  pipes,  car- 
rying water  from  mountain  lakes,  and  hydraulic 
mining  became  a  favorite  field  for  the  investment 
of  capital. 

The  foregoing  will  partially  describe  hydraulic 
mining  as  now  carried  on.  It  became  necessary 
in  some  instances  to  run  long  tunnels  into  the 
bank  or  hill,  to  furnish  an  outlet  for  the  water  and 
debris,  and  a  grade  low  enough  for  the  sluice- 
boxes.  These  tunnels  were  generally  run  in  until 
bed-rock  was  reached,  when  a  vertical  shaft  con- 
nected the  end  of  the  tunnel  with  the  surface.  In 
these  tunnels  the  sluice-boxes  are  lain — usually 
they  are  four  to  six  feet  wide,  and  from  one  to 
three  feet  high,  with  a  grade  of  six  inches  in  twelve 
feet,  or  about  four  feet  per  hundred  feet.     The 


74  SLUICE-BOXES. 

bottoms  of  these  flumes  are  generally  paved  with 
stones  set  on  edge,  or  with  pieces  of  plank  or 
joists  about  six  inches  in  length,  also  set  on  their 
ends,  with  small  cracks  between  them.  This  is  to 
prevent  the  stones  and  rocks  from  wearing  out  the 
bottom  of  the  flume,  and  to  act  as  riffles  to  catch 
the  fine  gold.  When  all  is  in  readiness  water  is 
turned  into  the  shaft,  down  through  which  it  rushes 
and  out  through  the  sluices  in  the  tunnel,  gradually- 
tearing  down  the  mountain  in  its  course,  and  de- 
positing the  precious  metal  in  the  riffles  we  have 
named.  After  washing  has  been  commenced  a 
day,  quicksilver  is  introduced  into  the  sluice-boxes 
to  catch  the  gold  by  amalgamation.  The  object 
of  the  delay  of  twenty- four  hours  being  so  that  the 
interstices  between  the  riffles  may  get  partially 
filled  with  gravel  and  sand  before  introducing  the 
quicksilver ;  otherwise  it  would  get  too  much  con- 
cealed beneath  the  pavement  to  be  instrumental 
in  attracting  and  collecting  the  gold.  The  sluice- 
boxes  are  charged  about  twice  a  day,  by  means  of 
an  iron  sprinkling-pot  made  for  the  purpose.  A 
light  spray  of  quicksilver  is  scattered  all  along  the 
sluices. 

After  the  shaft  mentioned  has  become  washed 
out  so  large  that  it  no  longer  resembles  a  shaft, 
but  is  a  vast  crater,  with  high  sloping  gravel  banks 
on  all  sides,  then  the  hydraulic,  with  its  iron  pipes 
and  nozzles,  begin  to  play  their  fierce  currents 
against  them.      Sometimes  several  are  in  use  at 


«  THE  CLEAN-UP."  Vy 

one  time,  which  concentrate  their  "fire"  upon  a 
given  point  when  necessary,  and  the  work  of  de- 
nuding the  bed-rock  for  acres,  and  often  for  miles 
in  extent,  has  begun. 

"Retorting." 

Once  or  twice  a  month,  or  oftener,  according  to 
the  richness  of  the  bars  or  banks  being  washed, 
occurs  what  is  called  "the  clean-up."  To  do  this 
the  riffles  or  paving-stones  are  removed,  com- 
mencing with  the  upper  end  of  the  sluice.  A 
small  stream  of  water  is  allowed  to  pass  through 
during  this  operation,  and  great  care  is  taken  to 
wash  any  particles  of  sand  or  dirt  that  might  con- 
tain fine  gold  from  the  blocks  of  pavement  before 
their  removal.  The  riffles  all  being  removed,  and 
such  particles  of  gravel  or  dirt  as  may  remain  in 
the  boxes  being  carefully  washed  and  removed, 
the  amalgam,  or  the  gold  and  quicksilver,  is  shov- 
eled up  into  iron  or  wooded  buckets.  Scrapers 
and  knives  are  used  to  collect  any  which  may  cling 
to  the  fissures  or  cracks  in  the  wood.  After  it  has 
all  been  collected,  it  is  taken  to  a  furnace,  made 
for  the  purpose,  and  when  properly  washed  in  a 
quicksilver  bath  to  separate  any  lead  or  foreign 
substance  it  may  contain,  the  amalgam,  after  the 
surplus  quicksilver  has  been  pressed  out  of  it 
through  a  canvas  cloth,  is  retorted,  and  the  gold 
is  separated  from  the  quicksilver. 

The  amalgam  is  placed  in  an  iron  retort,  lined 


73 


A  GOLD  BRICK. 


with  moist  clay ;  the  retort  is  placed  on  the  fur- 
nace, a  pipe  leads  from  the  retort  into  an  iron 

Retorting* 

bucket  filled  with  water.  The  heat  causes  the 
quicksilver  to  pass  off  in  the  shape  of  vapor  into 
the  bucket  of  water,  which  immediately  condenses 
the  vapor  again  into  quicksilver,  the  gold  remain- 
ing pure  in  the  retort. 

The  gold  is  then  placed  in  a  crucible,  and  cast 
in  a  mould  in  the  shape  of  a  brick,  is  stamped 
with  its  weight  and  name  of  the  company,  and  is 
ready  for  market. 

Great  care  has  to  be  taken  in  retorting  to  close 
hermetically  the  retort,  to  allow  no  vapor  to  escape, 
as  the  vapor  from  quicksilver  is  very  poisonous  if 
inhaled,  and  will  "salivate"  or  seriously  poison 
those  who  may  breathe  it  into  their  lungs. 

Having  given  a  brief  description  of  placer  min- 
ing and  the  apparatus  by  which  gold  is  collected, 
we  will  give  below  some  of  the  earnings  from  gold 
washings  by  means  of  these  machines,  and  some 
of  the  rich  strikes  which  show  the  wonderful 
profits  which  are  sometimes  made  from  gold 
mining.  These  finds  which  we  have  given  are  of 
comparatively  modern  date.  Older  and  much 
richer  ones  have  been  recorded,  but  these  may  be 
considered  reliable,  and  we  have  taken  pains  to 
publish  nothing  which  is  not  backed  by  good 
authority. 


A  $20,000  STRIKE.  jq 

In  the  summer  of  1849,  a  young  man  named 
Hudson,  from  the  State  of  New  York,  while  mining 
in  California,  discovered  a  deep  canon  between 
the  town  of  Coloma  and  the  middle  fork  of  the 

Kick  Strikes— A  $2,800  flugget. 

American  River,  and  by  digging  some  four  feet 
deep  reached  the  granite  bed-rock,  on  which  lay 
immense  masses  of  gold.  In  the  course  of  six 
weeks  he  had  dug  some  twenty  thousand  dollars 
from  the  gulch  in  gold.  The  largest  piece  found 
in  this  canon  weighed  a  little  over  fourteen  pounds 
of  nearly  pure  metal,  and  sold  for  about  two  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  dollars. 

A  boy,  by  the  name  of  John  C.  Davenport,  nine- 
teen years  of  age,  took  from  this  same  gulch  in 
one  day  eleven  hundred  and  fifty-five  dollars,  and 
the  next  day  nearly  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars of  pure  gold. 

A  young  man,  named  Samuel  Riper,  formerly 
from  Waterloo,  New  York,  with  four  companions, 
went  on  to  the  Yuba  River  in  June,  1 849,  and  built 
a  dam  across  about  fifty  miles  above  its  mouth, 
thereby  laying  bare  its  bottom  for  a  space  of  sev- 
enty feet  long  by  twenty-five  feet  wide.  After  a 
couple  of  weeks  of  hard  labor,  they  succeeded  in 
perfectly  drying  this  part  of  the  river's  bed,  and 
commenced  washing  the  earth  they  found  in  it, 
consisting  of  red  gravel,  solidly  packed  into  the 
crevices  of  the  rock.     The  earth  proved  rich,  and 


gQ  THE  BIGGEST  NUGGET. 

yielded  about  three  hundred  dollars  per  day  ;  and 
in  less  than  two  months  the  party  of  four  divided 
among  themselves  the  sum  of  fifteen  thousand 
dollars.  Immediately  above  this  two  of  the  same 
party  drained  a  much  smaller  portion  of  the  river's 
bed,  and  in  two  weeks  took  out  three  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  gold. 

The  Largest  Piece  of  Gold— $5,000. 

In  August,  1849,  Dr.  H.  Vandyke,  with  a  com- 
pany of  about  thirty  men,  went  to  the  north  fork 
of  the  American  River,  and  constructed  a  dam 
across  it  just  above  its  junction  with  the  main 
stream.  Within  the  first  three  days  after  drainage 
was  completed  the  company  took  out  fifteen  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  for  nearly  a  month  afterward 
averaged  from  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  and 
eighty  dollars  a  day  per  man. 

One  of  the  largest  pieces  of  gold  ever  found,  of 
which  there  is  a  record  kept,  was  picked  up  in  a 
dry  ravine  near  Stanislaus  River,  California,  in 
September,  1848.  It  contained  a  large  admixture 
of  quartz,  and  weighed  a  little  over  twenty-five 
pounds,  and  was  worth  five  thousand  dollars. 

A  gentleman*  who  kept  a  diary  while  at  work 
in  the  mines  in  1849,  which  was  published  in  1850, 
thus  speaks  of  his  success  in  gold  mining  on  the 
middle  fork  of  the  American  River,  California : 

*  Lieutenant  E.  G.  Buffum,  United  States  Army,  "  Six  Months  in  Gold 
Mines,"  1850. 


FIRST  DAY'S  WORK.  %        gj 

"  We  had  packed  on  the  back  of  one  of  our 
mules  a  sufficient  number  of  boards  from  Coloma 
to  construct  a  machine  with  which  to  wash  for 
gold.  The  morning  after  our  arrival  we  set  two 
of  our  party  at  work  on  the  machine,  while  the 
rest  of  us  were  to  dig ;  and  taking  our  pans,  crow- 
bars and  picks,  we  commenced  operations.  Our 
first  attempt  was  to  search  around  the  base  of  a 
lofty  boulder,  which  weighed  probably  some  twenty 
tons,  in  hope  of  finding  a  crevice  in  the  rock  on 
which  it  rested,  in  which  a  deposit  of  gold  might 
have  been  made.     In  this  we  were  successful. 

"  Around  the  base  of  the  rock  was  a  filling  of 
gravel  and  clay,  which  we  removed  with  much 
labor,  when  our  eyes  were  gladdened  with  the 
sight  of  gold,  strewn  all  over  its  surface,  and  inter- 
mixed with  blackish  sand.  This  we  gathered  up 
and  washed  in  our  pans,  and  ere  night  four  of  us 
had  dug  and  washed  twenty-six  ounces  of  gold, 
being  about  four  hundred  and  sixteen  dollars. 

&  $  $  $  $  4  & 

"The  gold  which  we  found  the  first  day  was 
principally  procured  by  washing;  although  two 
pieces,  one  weighing  thirteen  and  the  other  seven- 
teen dollars,  were  taken  from  a  little  pocket  on 
the  rock.  We  returned  to  camp  exceedingly 
elated  with  our  first  attempt. 

"The  next  day  our  machine  being  ready,  we 
looked  for  a  place  to  work  it,  and  soon  found  a 
little  beach,  which  extended  back  some  five  or  six 
5 


FRESH  DISCOVERIES. 


yards  before  it  reached  the  rocks.  The  upper  soil 
was  a  light  black  sand,  on  the  surface  of  which  we 
could  see  the  particles  of  gold  shining,  and  could, 
in  fact,  gather  them  up  with  our  fingers.  In  dig- 
ging below  this  we  struck  a  red,  stony  gravel,  that 
appeared  to  be  perfectly  alive  with  gold,  shining 
and  pure. 

"  We  threw  off  the  top  earth  and  commenced 
our  washings  with  the  gravel,  which  proved  so 
rich,  that,  excited  by  curiosity,  we  weighed  the  gold 
extracted  from  the  first  washing  of  fifty  panfuls  of 
earth,  and  found  seventy-five  dollars  to  be  the  re- 
sult. We  made  six  washings  during  the  day,  and 
placed  in  our  common  purse  that  night  a  little 
over  two  pounds — about  four  hundred  dollars' 
worth  of  gold  dust. 

"After  working  three  days  with  the  machine,  the 
earth  we  had  been  washing  began  to  give  out,  and 
it  became  necessary  for  us  to  look  for  a  new  place. 
Accordingly  we  commenced  *  prospecting.'  I 
sauntered  on  ahead  of  the  party,  and  crossing  the 
river,  I  continued  my  search,  and  after  digging 
some  time  struck  a  hard,  reddish  clay,  a  few  feet 
from  the  surface.  After  two  hours'  work  I  suc- 
ceeded in  finding  a  pocket,  out  of  which  I  ex- 
tracted, in  addition  to  other  dust,  three  lumps  of 
pure  gold  and  one  small  piece  mixed  with  quartz. 
Elated  with  my  success,  I  returned  to  camp,  arid 
found  the  first  lot  amounted  to  twelve  and  a  half 
ounces,   or  two   hundred   dollars:  and  the  four 


ANOTHER  DISCOVERY. 


83 


lumps  last  found,  sixteen  and  three-fourth  ounces, 
or  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  The  largest 
piece  weighed  no  less  than  seven  ounces  troy. 

"  My  success  this  day  was,  of  course,  the  result 
of  accident,  but  another  of  the  party  had  also 
found  a  pocket  containing  about  two  hundred  and 
seventy  dollars,  and  a  place  which  promised  a  rich 
harvest  for  our  machine. 

"  Tired  of  the  old  ravines,  I  started  one  morn- 
ing into  the  hills,  with  a  determination  of  finding  a 
new  place  where  I  could  labor  without  being  dis- 
turbed with  the  clang  of  picks  and  shovels  around 
me.  Striking  in  an  easterly  direction,  I  crossed  a 
number  of  hills  and  gorges  until  I  found  a  little 
ravine,  about  thirty  feet  in  length,  embosomed  amid 
the  low,  undulating  hills.  It  attracted  my  atten- 
tion, I  know  not  why,  and  clearing  off  a  place 
about  a  yard  in  length,  I  struck  soil  which  con- 
tained gold.  The  earth  on  top  was  a  light  black 
gravel,  filled  with  pebbly  stones,  which  apparently 
contained  no  gold.  Below  this  was  another  gravel, 
reddish  in  color,  and  in  which  fine  particles  of  gold 
were  so  mingled  that  they  shone  and  sparkled 
through  the  whole  of  it. 

"A  little  pool  of  water,  just  below  me,  afforded  a 
favorable  place  to  test  the  earth,  and  scooping  up 
a  handful,  I  washed  it,  and  it  yielded  about  two 
dollars.  I  continued  digging  and  washing,  until 
I  reached  slate-rock,  in  the  crevices  of  which  I 


84 


M  Y  SECRE  T  DISCO  VERED. 


found  many  little  nests  and  clusters  of  gold,  some 
of  them  containing  eight  or  ten  dollars. 

"  I  flattered  myself  that  I  had  here  at  last  found 
a  quiet  place  where  I  could  labor  alone  and  undis- 
turbed, and  appropriate  to  myself  the  entire  riches 
of  the  whole  ravine.  '  When  I  reached  and  had 
explored  the  surface  of  the  slate-rock,  I  tried  the 
experiment  of  breaking  the  rock  itself  into  small 
pieces  and  washing  it;  this  proved  as  rich  as  the 
gravel,  turning  out  two  dollars  to  the  panful.  The 
results  of  that  day's  labor  were  one  hundred  and 
ninety  dollars'  worth  of  gold  dust,  and  I  returned 
to  the  house  with  a  most  profound  secrecy  resting 
on  my  countenance,  and  took  good  care  not  to 
expose  the  good  luck  I  had  experienced.  But 
either  my  eyes  betrayed  me,  or  some  prying  indi- 
vidual had  watched  me,  for  the  next  morning,  when 
busily  at  work  on  my  ravine,  I  found  myself  sud- 
denly surrounded  by  twenty  good,  stout  fellows, 
all  equipped  with  their  implements  of  labor. 

A  $6,000  Nugget. 

"  I  could  say  or  do  nothing.  Pre-emption  rights 
are  things  unknown  here,  and  the  result  of  the 
matter  was  that  in  three  days  the  little  ravine 
which  I  had  so  fondly  hoped  would  be  my  own 
property,  was  turned  completely  upside  down. 
About  ten  thousand  dollars  was  extracted  from 
it,  of  which  I  realized  a  little*  over  a  thousand. 
Merely  the  body  of  the  ravine,  however,  was  dug, 


$5oo  PER  DAY.  gg 

and  after  it  was  entirely  deserted,  many  a  day  I 
went  to  it  solitary  and  alone  and  took  from  one  to 
three  ounces  out  of  its  banks." 

The  same  writer  also  states  that,  "  a  few  months 
after  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  I  saw  men 
in  whom  I  placed  the  utmost  confidence,  who  as- 
sured me  that  for  days  in  succession  they  had  dug 
over  five  hundred  dollars  per  day." 

In  September,  1871,*  a  nugget  worth  six  thou- 
sand dollars  was  taken  from  the  claim  of  Bunker  & 
Co.,  in  the  State  of  Oregon.  At  Kanka  Creek, 
Nevada  County,  Cal.,  in  October,  1871,  a  piece  of 
quartz  gold  was  found  weighing  ninety-six  ounces, 
and  worth  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  The  same  man 
took  from  his  claim  in  one  day  eighteen  ounces, 
worth  about  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars. 

Near  Carsons,  in  California,  in  i860,  a  twelve- 
pound  lump  of  gold  was  found,  slightly  mixed 
with  quartz,  and  valued  at  two  thousand  dollars. 
The  lucky  miner  who  found  it  had  been  prying 
out  from  next  the  bed-rock  a  nest  of  smooth 
stones,  which  he  scraped  clean  before  throwing 
them  into  the  heap.  One  of  them  struck  him  as 
being  rather  heavy,  but  it  did  not  occur  to  him  as 

"Kich  Strikes." 

being  gold  until,  in  scraping  the  supposed  stone, 
the  yellow  metal  reflected  the  rays  of  his  candle. 
Some   idea  of  the   richness  of  the    California 

*See  Report  of  United  States  Mining  Commissioner,  R.  W.  Raymond. 


g  5  RICH  RESUL  TS. 

placers  may  be  learned  from  an  extract  taken  from 
the  Auburn  (Cal.)  Stars  and  Stripes,  a  paper  of 
June  15th,  1871 : 

"  From  the  Weske  Claim,  twenty  men  working 
six  days,  the  yield  left  to  the  owner  a  dividend  (or' 
net  profit)  of  four  thousand  and  thirty  dollars  for 
the  week,  or  thirty- three  dollars  and  fifty-eight 
cents  per  man  a  day,  in  gold. 

"Last  Saturday,  John  Yule  brought  from  his 
claim,  near  Last  Chance,  to  Michigan  Bluff,  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  forty  dollars,  as  the 
result  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  days'  work, 
or  twelve  dollars  and  sixty  cents  to  the  man  per 
day." 

Near  Coos  Bay,  Oregon,  at  a  place  called  Whisky 
Run,  along  the  sea-shore,  in  a  species  of  black 
sand,  a  deposit  of  gold  was  found  said  to  be  im- 
mensely rich.  It  is  stated  that  for  awhile  it  was 
no  rare  thing  for  a  single  miner  to  take  out  a 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  fine  gold  dust  per  day. 

In  1872*  near  Silver  City,  New  Mexico,  a 
boulder  was  found  on  the  surface,  in  Lone  Moun- 
tain District,  which  weighed  two  hundred  and 
twenty  pounds,  and  is  said  to  have  been  worth 
about  two  thousand  dollars. 

A  few  miles  south  of  Cherokee,  Butte  County, 
Cal.,  were  found  gravel  mines  carrying  very  large 
nuggets  of  gold.  Pieces  were  found  weighing 
from  one  to  ten  ounces,  or  from  about  eighteen  to 

*R.  W.  Raymond,  in  United  States  Commissioner's  Reports. 


RICH  BOULDERS. 


87 


one   hundred   and   eighty   dollars,   almost   every 
day. 

In  Yuba  County,  Cal.,  the  Blue  Point  Compa- 
ny's ground,  an  ancient  river-bed  has  paid  over 
one  thousand  dollars  per  day's  washing,  and  as 
much  as  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  dollars 
for  less  than  one  hundred  days'  washings ;  this,  of 
course,  with  the  aid  of  a  gang  of  men. 

An  $8,000  Boulder— A  Building  Taken  Down  for  the  Gold 
Beneath. 

In  El  Dorado  County,  Cal.,  near  Pilot  Hill,  a 
number  of  heavy  quartz  boulders  were  found, 
from  one  of  which  over  eight  thousand  dollars  was 
extracted. 

Bald  Mountain,  Tuolume  County,  Cal.,  has  also 
been  noted  for  its  nuggets  and  coarse  gold.  Among 
those  found  was  one  of  twenty-three  pounds,  equal 
to  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  sixty-eight  dol- 
lars; one  of  seventeen  pounds,  equal  to  three 
thousand  six  hundred  and  seventy-two  dollars, 
and  many  pieces  of  from  one  to  four  pounds. 

The  history  of  Jamestown,  in  the  same  county, 
is  that  of  many  mining  camps,  of  hasty  growth  and 
slow  but  sure  decay.  The  placer  mines  were  for- 
merly of  great  richness,  and  for  a  few  years  the 
sales  of  gold  dust  averaged  about  one  thousand 
dollars  per  day.  The  bars  in  the  vicinity  of  So- 
noro,  Cal.,  were  also  formerly  very  rich.  The 
Democrat,  of  April   15th,  1871,  a  paper  of  that 


gg  A  LUCKY  DOG. 

place,  says :  "A  brick  building  is  being  taken  down 
for  the  purpose  of  mining  the  ground  under  it. 
Every  day  pieces  of  quartz  are  found  that  are 
very  rich  in  gold.  The  store  was  built  on  ground 
that  had  never  been  mined ;  it  is  proving  so  rich 
now  that  a  mining  hole  will  soon  take  the  place  of 
the  building.  Pieces  containing  from  one  to  three 
hundred  dollars  each  have  been  taken  out  within 
a  week.  One  week's  washing  has  averaged  ten 
dollars  per  day  to  the  hand.  *  #  #  # 
"  Several  pieces  were  found  ranging  from  one 
to  three  ounces.  Twelve  wagon-loads,  to  test  the 
claim  before  building  sluices,  paid  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  In  the  rear  of  the  same  building, 
a  few  years  since,  one  twenty-five  pound  chunk 
was  found  (five  thousand  dollars),  and  several  of 
nearly  that  weight.  A  dog  digging  for  a  gopher 
scratched  out  a  piece  of  gold  quartz,  which  Mr. 
Condit,  the  owner  of  the  lot,  sold  for  seventy  dol- 
lars. Small  pieces  of  quartz  are  now  daily  found 
containing  from  one  to  ten  dollars  in  free  gold." 

Alder  Gulch,  Montana. 

Probably  the  richest  strike,  or  discovery,  ever 
made  in  the  world,  if  the  after  production  be  con- 
sidered, was  the  discovery  of  Alder  Gulch,  in  Mon- 
tana. 

In  1863,  a  party  of  miners  on  their  way  to  Ban- 
nock City,  stopped  for  dinner  at  the  side  of  a 
small  stream  near  where  Virginia  City  now  stands, 


THE  GREATEST  FINDS. 


89 


and  while  most  of  the  party  were  preparing  their 
meal,  William  Fairweather  went  to  the  gulch  and 
panned  out  a  little  gravel.  The  first  panful  pro- 
duced thirty  cents,  and  the  subsequent  ones,  about 
two  dollars.  As  soon  as  these  facts  became  known 
there  was  a  general  stampede  to  Alder  Gulch 
from  all  parts  of  the  territory,  and  from  the  whole 
country  at  large.  At  first  the  production  was  from 
one  hundred  dollars  to  two  hundred  dollars  per 
day  to  the  man,  so  rich  were  the  surface  gravels. 
During  the  first  five  years,  the  gulch  yielded  forty 
millions,  or  an  average  of  eight  millions  per  year, 
and  up  to  the  present  time,  seventy  millions  have 
been  produced. 

Some  of  the  greatest  finds  the  world  has  ever 
known  have  been  struck  in  this  territory  of  Mon- 
tana. We  quote  from  an  address  by  Mr.  R.  B.  Har- 
rison, who  has  charge  of  the  U.  S.  Assay  Office  at 
Helena,  Montana,  delivered  before  the  Bullion 
Club,  of  New  York  city,  March  23d,  1880. 

Confederate  Gulch— One  Thousand  Dollars  to  the  Pan. 

"  Confederate  Gulch,  in  Meagher  County  (Mon- 
tana), is  thirty-five  miles  from  Helena  and  six 
miles  from  the  Missouri  River,  and  was  worked  in 
1 8 64  and  '65.  During  the  following  year,  as  high  as 
one  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  to  the  pan  of 
dirt  was  taken  out  near  the  mouth  of  Montana 
Gulch. 

"  Montana  Bar  was  far  richer  than  the  gulch,  and 


gQ  A   WONDERFUL    YIELD. 

lay  at  such  an  elevation  above  it  that  it  could 
.easily  be*  worked  and  washed. 

"  The  flumes,  on  cleaning  up,  were  found  to  be 
burdened  with  gold  by  the  hundred-weight,  which 
was  separated  at  small  expense.  In  the  summer 
of  1866,  a  drain  ditch  for  Confederate  Gulch  was 
projected,  and  pressed  forward  to  completion  in 
1868.  In  the  spring  of  that  year,  bed-rock  was 
reached,  and  the  enormous  yield  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty  dollars  to  the  pan  in  Montana  Gulch 
was  forgotten  in  astonishment  at  the  wonderful 
yield  of  over  one  thousand  dollars  to  a  pan  of  gravel 
taken  from  the  bed-rock, 

"  Those  who  have  not  seen  a  gold  pan  will  bet- 
ter appreciate  this  yield,  when  told  that  this  indis- 
pensable article  of  outfit  to  the  prospector  and 
miner  is  a  foot  and  a  half  in  diameter,  and  can 
hold  when  heaped,  no  more  than  twenty-five  to 
fifty  pounds  of  dirt. 

"  The  average  run  of  a  day's  sluicing  on  several 
of  the  claims  in  Confederate  Gulch  was  from  three 
thousand  to  eight  thousand  dollars. 

"  Confederate  is  not  so  long  or  so  wide  as  Alder 
Gulch,  but  for  its  size  was  far  the  richer  of  the 
two. 

"  For  the  same  amount  of  surface,  it  has  pro- 
duced by  long  odds  a  larger  amount  of  gold  than 
any  other  spot  in  the  world.  From  it  in  August, 
1866,  a  four-horse  private  wagon  was  loaded  with 
two  and  a  half  tons  of  solid  gold,  or  one  and  a 


MONTANA  NUGGETS.  g1 

half  millions  of  dollars,  taken  from  Montana  Bar 
in  about  ninety  days  by  three  claim  owners.  This 
bar  is  only  half  a  mile  long  by  two  hundred  or 
three  hundred  feet  wide.  Every  one  hundred 
feet  of  it  produced  over  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  in  gold.  Some  claims,  two  hundred  feet  in 
length  across  the  bar,  paid  as  high  as  one  hundred 
and  eighty  thousand  dollars  to  the  claim.  Where 
else  have  we  a  record  of  such  a  marvelous  yield 
ofp*old?  ******* 

Large  Gold  Nuggets. 

"  The  gold  as  found  in  placer  mining  in  Mon- 
tana varies  in  size  from  microscopic  powder  to  a 
mass  weighing  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
ounces  troy.  The  latter  was  the  largest  nugget 
ever  found  in  the  territory,  and  came  from  a  tribu- 
tary of  Snow  Shoe  Gulch  in  1865;  it  was  worth 
three  thousand  two  hundred  dollars. 

"Another  large  nugget  was  found  in  Nelson 
Gulch  worth  two  thousand  and  seventy-three  dol- 
lars, in  July  of  the  same  year,  and  one  in  Rolker 
Gulch  in  1867  worth  one  thousand  eight  hundred. 
The  one  now  exhibited  to  the  club  was  found  in 
Deadwood  Gulch  (Montana)  last  April ;  it  weighs 
forty-seven  and  seventy  one-hundredths  ounces 
and  is  worth  nine  hundred  and  forty-five  dollars 
and  eighty  cents.  Large  numbers  of  smaller  ones, 
running  in  value  from  nine  hundred  dollars  down, 
have  been  found  in  different  gulches.     Those  from 


02 


OCCASIONAL  DIAMONDS. 


one-fourth  ounce  to  ten  ounces  are  very  common 


even  now." 


Such  statements  of  wonderful  and  almost  miracu- 
lous yields  from  placer  mines,  would  seem  incredi- 
ble, did  they  come  from  a  less  reliable  source ;  but 
Mr.  Harrison,  of  the  U.  S.  Assay  Office,  is  un- 
questioned authority  and  has  had  facilities  for 
learning  the  facts,  such  as  few  others  have  pos- 
sessed. 

Diamonds  in  California. 

Mr.  W.  A.  Goodyear,  one  of  the  assistants  of 
the  State  Geological  Survey  of  California,  thus 
writes  to  the  Placerville  Democrat,  concerning  the 
existence  of  diamonds  in  the  gravel  beds  of  El 
Dorado  County. 

"  One  other  point  may  be  noted  as  being  of 
some  little  interest  to  the  miners,  as  a  matter  of 
curiosity,  if  nothing  more,  although  it  is  no  new 
thing,  it  is  the  occasional  finding  of  diamonds  in  the 
auriferous  gravel.  From  all  that  I  have  been  able 
to  learn  it  appears  that  not  less  than  ten  or  twelve 
diamonds  have  probably  been  found,  within  four 
or  five  miles  of  this  town,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  many  more  have  been  picked  up  and  looked 
at,  and  thrown  away,  the  finders  not  knowing  what 
they  were. 

"  During  my  stay  in  El  Dorado  County,  I  have 
seen  and  recognized  two  of  these  diamonds,  both 
of  which  were  in  the  hands  of  people  who  did  not 
know  what  they  were,  but  who  had  simply  saved 


PECULIAR  FORM.  g^ 

them  as  little  curiosities  on  account  of  their  ap- 
pearance and  peculiar  shape. 

"  For  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  not  familiar 
with  the  stone,  it  may  be  stated  here  that  this 
peculiar  shape  of  the  diamond  is  one  of  the  easiest 
and  most  characteristic  features  by  which  it  may 
be  recognized. 

"  The  most  common  shape  of  the  diamond  in 
this  country  is  that  of  a  solid  ^br  crystal,  having 
twenty-four  triangular  faces.  And  another  remark- 
able and  easily  distinguished  peculiarity  is  that 
these  faces  instead  of  being  perfectly  flat,  as  is 
generally  the  case  with  the  faces  of  quartz  and 
other  crystals,  are  very  often  curved  or   convex 

Diamonds— How  Recognized. 

in  shape,  the  centre  of  each  face  being  a  little 
higher  than  the  surface  toward  the  edges. 

"The  diamond,  moreover,  is  extremely  hard, 
and  scratches  quartz  with  the  greatest  ease. 

"If,  therefore,  any  one  finds  a  little  white,  or 
yellowish  white  crystal,  with  twenty-four  of  these 
curved  triangular  faces ;  and  if,  on  trying  it  care- 
fully with  a  crystal  of  pure  quartz,  he  finds  that  it 
easily  scratches  the  quartz  without  showing  the 
least  abrasion  itself,  he  may  be  tolerably  sure  that 
he  has  found  a  diamond." 

We  have  given  above  a  few  of  the  "  strikes,"  or 
finds,  which  entice  the  miners  to  "rush"  to  new 
mining  fields,  to  endure  privations,  suffer  poverty, 


Q4  LAST  CHANCE. 

hunger,  and  even  face  'death,  for  the  sake  of 
taking  his  chances  in  the  great  lottery  which  na- 
ture has  provided  for  him.  , 

A  few,  generally  but  a  very  few,  in  proportion 
to  the  vast  numbers  who  go,  reap  any  lasting 
benefits.  Yet  to  every  new  district  the  old  miners 
are  deluded  into  the  same  thought  again — that 
this  time  he  will  surely  win ;  that  this  is  his  "last 
chance;"  and  hence  it  is,  we  think,  that  so  many 
claims  are  named  "Last  Chance  T — Hundreds  of 
them  of  that  name. 

So  with  each  and  every  miner  that  goes,  "  now," 
he  says  to  himself,  "I  shall  find  my  Bonanza."  It 
is  a  trait  of  character  peculiar  to  the  American 
people,  and  especially  the  American  miner,  that 
no  matter  how  many  reverses  he  may  have  met 
with,  or  how  many  sad  experiences  he  may  have 
undergone,  he  has  still  the  veritable  "pluck"  to  try 
once  more.  So  he  "pulls  up  stakes,"  and  leaves 
good  claims  in  the  hope  of  finding  better  ones, 
and  the  "rush"  is  fairly  inaugurated. 

The  next  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  quartz 
mining. 


CHAPTER  III. 

QUARTZ  MINING — VEINS  OF  ORE — THE  MEXICAN  ARRASTRA — THE  GE- 
OLOGY OF  MINING— GRANITE  :  OF  WHAT  COMPOSED  :  DESCRIPTION — 
METAMORPHIC  ROCK — ORIGIN  OF  MINERALS — WHERE  TO  LOOK  FOR 
VEINS  OF  ORE — "FOOLS'  GOLD  "—IRON  PYRITES — QUARTZ  VEINS: 
THEIR  PRINCIPAL  FEATURES — THE  GREAT  "  MOTHER  LODE"  OF  CALI- 
FORNIA— THE  COMSTOCK  LODE:  ITS  SIZE  AND  PRODUCTION — THE 
SUTRO  TUNNEL :  AN  ADDRESS  BY  ADOLPH  SUTRO,  ITS  PROJECTOR — 
FORMATION  OF  THE  FISSURE  :  HOW  IT  WAS  FILLED — THE  THEORY  OF 
VOLATILIZATION — GREAT  DEPTH  OF  THE  COMSTOCK  LODE — BONANZAS — 
CARBONATE  ORES  OF  COLORADO — THE  FIRST  QUARTZ  MILL — THE 
STAMP  MILL. 

Quartz. 

QUARTZ,  as  before  stated,  is  the  name  ap- 
plied to  gold,  silver  and  other  ores,  in 
their  original  state,  as  placed  in  the  rocks, 
and  is  of  variable  grades  of  richness,  vary- 
ing from  mere  nothing  in  value  to  thousands  of 
dollars  per  ton  of  ore. 

The  grades  most  common,  and  those  most  fre- 
quently mined,  yield  from  ten  to  one  hundred 
dollars  per  ton.  Nearly  all  mines  have  streaks  of 
ore  of  greater  richness  than  the  whole  vein  will 
average  by  mill  process,  and  very  few  mines  are 
discovered  which  produce  ore  for  any  great  length 
of  time  that  will  average  over  one  hundred  dollars 
per  ton,  and  most  all  mines  have  more  or  less  low- 
grade  ores,  which  hardly  pay  for  extracting  them. 
Sometimes  gold  exists  in  quartz  in  almost  a 

95 


96 


REFRACTORY  ORES. 


pure  state,  and  is  easily  extracted ;  the  rock  ap- 
pearing sometimes  soft  or  decayed,  and  inclined 
to  crumble  when  exposed  to  the  atmosphere, 
Thousands  of  dollars  have  frequently  been  ex- 
tracted from  such  soft  ores,  simply  by  crushing 
the  rock  by  hand  in  a  common  iron  mortar,  re- 
ducing it  to  a  powder,  and  afterward  .washing  it  in 
a  common  prospecting  pan. 

At  another  place  the  ore  will  appear  to  be  al- 
loyed, or  mixed,  perhaps,  with  all  sorts  of  base 
metals,  and  will  be  very  hard  to  reduce  by  mill 
process,  compelling  the  miner  to  resort  to  the 
"  roasting  process,"  and  requiring  expensive  fur- 
naces and  machinery,  and  requiring  large  capital 
and  great  outlay  of  money  to  extract  the  metal 
from  the  ore.  In  some  instances  the  expense  has 
been  so  great  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  the 
ore,  that  work  had  to  be  discontinued  upon  the 
mine,  because  it  was  unprofitable,  and  the  miner 
has  had  to  await  the  invention  of  cheaper  and  bet- 
ter methods  of  reduction,  or  abandon  his  mine  as 
worthless.  Such  ores  are  termed  refractory  ores, 
and  are  very  common  in  the  United  States.  Fre- 
quently these  ores  are  a  mixture  of  silver  and 
lead,  carrying  some  gold.  Sometimes  copper  and 
tellurium  are  mixed  with  the  quartz  which  carries 
the  gold.  These  metals  are  found  very  frequently 
intermixed  in  the  quartz  in  various  proportions. 

These  rebellious  ores,  as  they  have  been  termed, 
were  for  many  years  of  little  value,  until  the  in- 


EARLIEST  CONTRIVANCE. 


97 


vention  of  improved  methods  for  their  reduction. 
Finally,  after  much  experiment  and  oft-repeated 
failures,  the  scientific  miner  gained  the  victory 
over  them,  and  at  the  present  time  few  ores  are 
found  which  cannot  be  successfully  treated,  pro- 
vided they  are  of  sufficiently  high  grade  to  pay 
the  expense. 

The  Mexican  Arrastra. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  in  this  book  to  describe  all 
the  many  processes  by  which  gold  and  silver  are 
extracted  from  their  ores,  therefore  only  two  or 
three  of  the  oldest  and  most  common  methods  are 
noticed.  Probably  the  earliest  contrivance  for 
producing  gold  and  silver  from  the  rock,  or  quartz 
ore,  when  found  in.  veins,  was  the  Mexican  arrastra. 
It  probably  was  invented  by  the  Spaniards,  or 
Mexicans,  at  a  very  early  day,  and  was  brought 
to  California  by  Mexicans,  and  is  still  used  to  some 
extent.  In  Mexico  it  appears  to  be  still  a  favorite 
machine  with  miners  of  limited  means  for  the 
extraction  of  the  precious  metals  from  their 
ores. 

The  contrivance,  when  seen  at  a  distance,  some- 
what resembles  the  old-fashioned  bark-mill,  used 
by  small  tanneries,  and  run  by  means  of  a  horse 
walking  round  in  a  circle,  hitched  to  the  arm  of  an 
upright  shaft,  which  revolves  slowly  around.  The 
foot  of  this  shaft  runs  in  a  box  or  place  prepared 
for  it,  on  a  timber  imbedded  into  the  ground,  and 


98 


CONSTRUCTION. 


the  upper  end  fastened  in  a  like   manner   to  a 
frame-work  overhead. 

Thus  far  as  described,  the  bark-mill  and  arrastra 
are  alike.  The  arm  of  the  arrastra,  to  which  the 
horse  is  hitched,  is,  however,  longer  than  that  to 
the  bark-mill,  allowing  the  horse  to  walk  farther 
from  the  shaft  in  a  larger  circle. 

An  excavation  of  perhaps  six  or  seven  feet  in 
diameter  is  made  in  a  circle  about  ten  or  twelve 
inches  deep,  in  the  centre  of  which  the  foot  of  the 
shaft  is  fixed  in  place.  This  excavation  is  paved 
in  the  bottom  and  on  the  circular  sides  with  hard, 
smooth  stories — the  sides  with  stones  setting  up 
edgewise,  or,  as  frequently  made,  the  sides  may  be 
of  plank  or  boards.  A  solid  pavement  of  stones 
constitute  the  bottom ;  and  next,  two  or  more 
large  stones,  with  one  flat  side  to  each,  are  selected, 
and  fastenings  made  in  them  for  ropes  or  chains, 
by  which  they  are  securely  fastened  to  the  arms  of 
the  shaft,  one  on  each  side,  opposite  each  other, 
with  their  flat  sides  resting  on  the  pavement  be- 
low. These  are  intended  to  drag  round  on  top  of 
the  paved  bottom.  The  ore  is  then  broken  up 
with  a  sledge  about  as  fine  as  the  size  of  an  egg, 
and  scattered  around  on  the  pavement.  A  small 
stream  of  water  is  introduced,  which  can  be  shut 
off  at  pleasure.  The  horse  is  started  on  his 
rounds,  and  the  work  of  crushing  the  quartz  is 
begun. 

The  ore  is  thus  ground  to  a  fine  paste.     Quick- 


EXCELSIOR  GRINDING  AND  AMALGAMATING  PAN. 


The  Pan  has  the  conoidal  form,  the  centre  rising  as  high  as  the  rim,  and 
molded  so  that  its  vertical  section  forms  the  tractory  curve,  or  curve  of  equal 
wear,  securing  perfect  uniformity  in  the  wearing  of  shoes  on  the  muller  and 
the  dies.  Its  mechanical  construction  as  to  simplicity,  weight,  strength, 
convenience  of  working,  cleaning  up  and  cheapness,  it  is  claimed,  is  un- 
equaled  by  any  other  grinder  and  amalgamator. 


EXECUTION,  IOI 

silver  is  introduced  occasionally  to  amalgamate 
the  metal,  and  when  a  sufficient  quantity  has  been 
pulverized,  the  pavement  is  taken  up,  the  amal- 
gam collected  and  washed,  and  separated  from 
the  dirt.  The  amalgam  is  collected  into  a  stout 
canvas  bag,  and  the  Water  is  thoroughly  squeezed 
out  of  it,  when  it  is  ready  for  retorting,  a  process 
which  has  already  been  described. 

A  good  arrastra  will  crush  from  one  to  three 
tons  of  ore  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  makes  from 
six  to  ten  revolutions  per  minute.  They  are  fre- 
quently propelled  by  water-power,  and  attached 
to  a  water-wheel  and  driven  somewhat  faster. 

Such  was  one  of  the  primitive  methods  of 
separating  gold  and  silver  from  quartz,  and 
strange  to  say,  on  ores  which  were  not  refractory, 
it  has  been  but  little  improved  upon,  in  regard  to 
the  quantity  of  metal  saved  from  the  ore,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  whole  amount  it  contains.  In  all 
gold-saving  apparatus  there  is  a  loss  by  the  fine 
particles  floating-  off  with  the  water,  or  failing  to 
be  caught  by  the  quicksilver.  The  arrastra  saves 
perhaps  nearly  as  large  a  proportion  of  the  metals 
as  the  machines  of  later  inventions.  Grinding 
mills  and  the  stamp-mill  in  due  time  succeeded  the 
arrastra,  as  will  be  fully  described  later  in  the  work. 

Quartz  Veins. 

With  few  exceptions,  quartz  veins  are  found 
within  granite,  slate  or  porphyry  walls,  perhaps 


j Q2  PRIMAR  Y  ROCKS. 

most  frequently  within  the  schists  and  slates  of 
the  primary  rocks  which  lie  next  to  the  granite, 
termed  also  metamorphic  rocks,  and  occasionally 
within  the  rocks  termed  by  geologists  the  transition 
group,  and  the  primitive  limestone  of  the  primary 
rocks.  It  is  very  seldom,  if  ever,  found  in  the 
secondary  strata,  or  those  rocks  which  lie  next 
above  the  primary. 

By  primary  rocks  geologists  mean  the  lowest 
and  oldest  formation  of  the  earth,  the  granite  in 
its  varieties  being  the  lowest  of  this  class,  and  is 
supposed  to  extend  down  to  the  centre  of  the 
earth. 

We  introduce  here  a  list  of  the  classification  of 
the  rocks  in  the  earth's  crust,  or  strata,  as  given 
by  some  geologists,  which  will  aid  the  general 
reader  in  fixing  their  position  in  his  mind.  Be- 
ginning at  the  bottom  of  the  list,  the  first  rock  is 
granite,  supposed  to  be  lowest  in  the  earth's 
strata,  and  reaching  to  the  centre  of  the  earth ; 
above  this  the  secondary  strata,  tertiary,  etc.,  with 
their  various  subdivisions,  until  the  alluvial  or  veg- 
etable soil  is  reached  at  the  surface  of  the  earth. 
{See  page  ioj.) 

Granite. 

Granite  is  a  close,  compact  rock,  composed  of 
fragments  of  other  rock  or  stony  matter.  These 
are  so  firmly  cemented  together,  that  the  whole 
forms  but  one  solid  mass  without  the  slightest  in- 
dication  of  pores   or  fissures.     Geologists   have 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  ROCKS. 


IO3 


SUPERFICIAL. 


Vegetable  soil. 
Peat. 

Gravel  beds. 
Clay  beds. 


Tertiary. 


Marl  beds. 
Shelly  millstone. 
Gypsum. 
Coarse  limestone. 
Plastic  clay. 


SECONDARY. 
{Chalk  Group) 


Chalk. 
Green  sand. 
Weald  clays. 


{Oolitic  Group) 

Oolite. 

Sandstones. 

Lias. 

{New  Red  Sandstone  Group.) 

Variegated  marls. 
Muschelkalk. 
Variegated  sandstones. 
Red  conglomerate. 
Rock  salt. 

{Carboniferous  Group) 

Coal. 

Sandstone. 

Shale. 

Mountain  limestone. 

Old  Red  Sandstone. 

TRANSITION. 
{Granwacke  Group) 

Granwacke. 

Clayey  and  sandy  slates,  or 

Lowest  fossiliferous. 

PRIMARY. 

{Inferior  Stratified  Series) 

Clay  slate*  # 

Micaceous  slate. 
Primitive  limestone. 
Talcose-granite,  or  slate. 
Gneiss. 


( Granites) 
Plutonic — Granite  in  varieties. 


IOA  QUARTZ— FELSPAR— MICA. 

been  accustomed  to  describe  this  as  the  oldest  and 
lowest  of  all  rocks,  but,  in  fact,  it  often  appears  as 
a  volcanic  rock  which  has  been  thrown  up  in  a 
state  of  fusion  through  superincumbent  strata  of 
other  kinds  penetrating  their  chinks,  and  spread- 
ing  over  them   on  the   surface.     These  are  the 

o 

peculiar  circumstances  in  which  it  may  be  said 
that  other  rocks  sometimes  lie  beneath  granite. 

Granite  may  then  be  described  as  generally 
forming  a  base  or  bed  for  all  other  rocks,  and  as 
rising  in  some  places  from  its  unmeasured  depths 
into  chains  of  lofty  mountains,  and  in  other 
places  penetrating  in  veins  through  superincum- 
bent rocks,  and  partially  covering  them  at  the  top. 

Three  substances  usually  enter  into  the  compo- 
sition of  granite,  namely:  (i.)  Quartz,  a  gray, 
glassy  substance  composed  of  the  oxygen  of  the 
atmosphere  in  union  with  one  of  the  metallic 
bases — silicium.  (2.)  Felspar,  also  a  crystalline 
substance,  but  usually  opaque  and  colored  pink  or 
yellow,  composed  of  sandy  and  clayey  matter,  with 
a  small  mixture  of  lime  and  potash.  (3.)  Mica,  a 
silvery  glittering  substance,  which  divides  readily 
into  thin  leaves  or  flakes,  and  consisting  princi- 
pally of  flint  and  clay,  with  a  little  magnesia  and 
oxide  of  iron. 

In  some  granites  instead  of  mica  we  find  horn- 
blende, a  dark  crystalline  substance,  composed  of 
alumnia,  silex  of  flint,  and  magnesia,  with  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  black  oxide  of  iron.    Such 


DIFFERENT  R  O  CRTS. 


I05 


granites  are  called  syenite,  from  having  first  been 
found  in  the  island  of  Syene. 

The  matter  of  which  granite  is  composed  is 
often  found  to  be  in  the  form  of  small  crystals 
seldom  or  never  assuming  the  shape  of  round 
grains.  It  is  found  of  all  shades  and  colors,  from 
a  bright  white  to  a  deep  black,  often  in  the  same 
block.  The  crystals  are  in  many  instances  not  more 
than  one-twelfth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  but  they 
have  been  found  an  inch  in  size,  and  even  larger. 

Granite  rock  is  particularly  characterized  by  the 
absence  of  all  stratification,  or  any  indication  of 
parallel  joints  ;  the  rock  is  uniformly  compact  in 
all  directions. 

Granite  rock  is  frequently  interspersed  with 
more  or  less  vertical  crevices  or  veins,  which  are 
filled  with  matter  foreign  to  the  rock  itself,  and 
sometimes  are  found  to  be  lodes  or  veins  of  ores 
of  various  minerals.  We  may  expect  to  find  in 
these  veins  ores  of  tin,  iron,  copper,  lead,  quartz, 
gold,  silver  and  a  few  other  metallic  ores. 

Metamorphic  Bocks. 

The  rocks  of  this  formation  are  the  second  in 
age.  To  this  class  belong  a  great  variety  of  min- 
erals in  rocks  covering  tracts  of  great  extent  and 
great  depth.  The  rock  of  this  formation  is  char- 
acterized by  a  partial,  and  frequently  by  a  decided 
stratification.  It  does  not  belong  exactly  to  either 
the  compact  or  stratified  series. 


io5  KINDRED  MINERALS, 

In  this  rock,  which  is  very  extensive  in  the 
United  States,  we  find  gold  in  Virginia,  North  and 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  New  Mexico, 
California,  Utah,  Oregon,  and  in  several  other 
States  and  Territories.  We  also  find  silver  in 
this  rock  in  many  places.  Platinum  is  also  found 
along  with  the  gold.  Lead  and  iron  ore  is  found 
almost  everywhere  in  this  formation.  This  forma- 
tion is  probably  the  most  productive  in  the  useful 
minerals,  and  wherever  a  faint  indication  of  some- 
thing valuable  is  discovered  in  this  strata,  it  is 
generally  worth  the  trouble  to  follow  and  dig 
after  it. 

The  Stratified  Bocks. 

The  stratified  rocks,  which  are  the  tertiary  and 
secondary  divisions  of  the  earth's  crust,  contains 
few  if  any  of  the  precious  metals,  no  lead,  copper, 
nor  any  metal  of  consequence  except  iron  and 
manganese.  Precious  metals  have  been  found  ex- 
tensively in  Utah  in  a  sandstone  formation.  But 
it  undoubtedly  belongs  to  the  transition  rocks  or 
the  sandy  slates,  in  close  proximity  to  the  meta- 
morphic  rocks. 

Coal  is  everywhere  found  in  the  secondary  rocks 
in  the  group  termed  carboniferous. 

The  upper  or  tertiary  formation  though  very 
extensive  offers  but  little  inducement  to  search  for 
minerals,  and  those  few  which  are  found,  are  gen- 
erally of  an  inferior  quality. 


TRUE  FISSURE   VEINS.  IO~ 

The  Origin  of  Minerals. 

Of  the  origin  of  minerals,  authors  disagree,  but 
a  theory  very  commonly  accepted  is,  that  their 
origin  in  the  form  of  veins  of  ore  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  result  of  infiltration  from  the  sur- 
face, to  which  class  many  of  the  iron  and  copper 
ores  belong,  or  that  the  deposits  have  been  formed 
in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  as  those  of  the  coal 
measures,  or  that  the  minerals  have  been  injected 
from  below,  raised  by  the  power  of  internal  heat, 
to  which  class  the  gold  and  silver  ores  belong. 

One  class  of  veins  generally  consists  of  wedges 
decreasing  with  depth,  and  another  class  of  sphe- 
roidal masses,  or  pockets,  and  a  third  class  of 
wedges  increasing  with  depth. 

These  wedges,  described  as  increasing  with 
depth,  are  termed  by  miners,  in  gold  and  silver 
regions,  as  true  fissure  veins,  and  a  genuine  true 
fissure  vein  has  never  been  found  to  become  ex- 
hausted as  depth  is  attained,  though  it  is  some- 
times "pinched"  or  narrowed,  with  "horses"  or 
otherwise  to  a  very  small  streak  of  ore,  yet  farther 
down  it  usually  widens  out  again  to  its  usual 
thickness. 

Hence  it  is,  where  true  fissure  veins  are  dis- 
covered, the  only  question  of  successful  mining  is, 
in  regard  to  the  richness  of  the  ore,  such  veins 
having  never  been  known  to  give  out  entirely. 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  appear  that  gold  and 
silver  are  usually  found  in  regions  where  the  granite 


io8  GENERAL  RULE. 

or  primary  rocks  have  been  pushed  up  to  the  sur- 
face, from  great  depths  below  by  volcanic  action, 
and  are  the  prevailing  country  rock  of  the  section 
in  which  these  metals  are  found,  the  secondary  or 
tertiary  strata  not  abounding,  this  having  been 
displaced  or  swept  away  by  the  elements  which 
exposed  the  granite  and  older  formation. 

Where  to  Look  for  Teins  of  Ore. 

It  will,  therefore,  appear  that  it  is  nearly  useless 
to  look  for  gold  or  silver  ore,  or  rich  auriferous 
gravel  deposits,  in  sections  where  there  are  no 
primary  rocks  to  be  found ;  nor  is  it  to  be  sup- 
posed that,  because  these  rocks  do  abound,  that 
gold  can  be  discovered.  Indeed,  such  rocks  are 
abundant  in  some  localities  where  no  valuable 
metal  has  been  discovered. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  it  will  hardly  pay  the  pros- 
pector to  search  for  auriferous  or  argentiferous 
veins  in  other  than  the  granite  or  metamorphic 
rocks  and  the  older  limestone  and  other  form- 
ations which  belong  to  the  primary  class. 

There  may  be  exceptions  to  this  rule,  of  course, 
but  only  a  practical  geologist  could  determine 
where  the  exception  exists ;  and  it  is  not  our  pur- 
pose, in  this  volume,  to  give  more  than  a  brief 
outline  for  determining  a  gold-producing  section. 

"Fool's  Gold." 

It  is  probable  that  the  substance  known  as  iron 
pyrites,  sometimes  termed  "  Fool's  Gold,"  has  de- 


THE  REAL  DIFFERENCE.  IOn 

ceived  very  many  people.     Hitchcock's  Geology 
mentions  it  thus : 

"  By  no  mineral  substance  have  men  been  more 
deceived  than  by  iron  pyrites,  which  have  been 
very  appropriately  named  "  Fool's  Gold."  When 
in  a  pure  state,  its  resemblance  to  gold  is  often  so 
great  that  it  is  no  wonder  those  unacquainted  with 
minerals  should  suppose  it  to  be  that  metal.  Yet 
the  merest  tyro  in  mineralogy  can  readily  distin- 
guish the  two  substances,  since  native  gold  is 
always  malleable,  but  pyrites  never.     This  latter 

Iron  Pyrites. 

mineral  is  also  very  liable  to  decomposition,  and 
such  changes  are  thereby  wrought  in  the  rocks 
containing  it,  as  to  lead  the  inexperienced  observer 
to  imagine  that  he  has  the  clew  to  a  rich  depository 
of  mineral  treasures.  And  probably  nine  out  of 
ten  of  the  numerous  excavations  which  have  been 
made  in  this  country  (the  East)  in  search  of  the 
precious  metal,  had  their  origin  in  pyrites  and' 
their  termination  in  disappointment." 

The  foregoing  describes  the  iron  pyrites  of  the 
coal  formation.  But  it  appears  that  the  iron 
pyrites  of  the  primary,  or  metamorphic  rocks,  do 
sometimes  contain  gold,  as  the  following,  from 
"Overman's  Practical  Mineralogy,"  will  show: 

"Iron  pyrites  are  of  little  value  in  themselves. 
But  as  a  matrix  of  other  metals,  namely,  gold  and 
silver,  they  deserve  more  attention  than  they  have 


!  j  q  VARIA  TIONS  IN  VEINS. 

hitherto  received.  All  iron  pyrites  contain  gold, 
and  often  silver,  from  which  rule  only  those  of  the 
coal  formation  are  excepted. 

"The  gold  deposits  of  the  Southern  States  con- 
stitute virtually  a  belt  or  accumulation  of  veins  of 
iron  pyrites.  The  gold  had  its  seat  originally  in 
the  pyrites,  which,  when  decomposed,  liberate  the 
gold,  and  it  appears  in  a  metallic  state.  The 
pyrites  are  the  matrix  of  the  gold." 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  iron  pyrites  are  value- 
less of  themselves,  and  not  worthy  of  notice,  ex- 
cept when  found  in  the  older  or  gold-producing 
rocks  of  the  earth. 

Quartz  Veins. 

As  before  stated,  quartz  veins,  as  found  in  the 
rocks,  vary  greatly  in  the  richness  and  quality  of 
the  ores  they  contain,  and  also  in  the  ease  or  diffi- 
culty with  which  the  metal  ,can  be  extracted  from 
the  ore.  The  same  is  true  in  regard  to  the  size 
and  thickness  and  general  formation  of  veins  of 
ore.  Sometimes  a  vein  is  discovered  of  but  a  few 
inches  in  thickness,  and  again  another  will  be  of 
many  feet.  Frequently  their  length  is  limited  only 
by  the  length  of  the  mountain  on  which  they  are 
found,  and  sometimes  they  are  only  a  few  rods  in 
length.  In  regard  to  the  depth  which  they  may 
extend  into  the  earth,  there  is  the  same  variation. 
Sometimes  the  plane  of  the  vein  is  but  a  few  de- 
grees from  level,  and  frequently  it  is  nearly  ver- 


OVERHAND  STOPING. 


UNDERHAND  STOPING. 


SEVENTY-FIVE  MILE   VEIN.  j  j  j 

tical.  Sometimes  they  are  exhausted  of  ore  but  a 
few  feet  in  depth  from  the  surface ;  but  often  they 
extend  down  seemingly  to  the  centre  of  the  earth, 
and  are  never  exhausted,  their  production  being 
only  limited  by  the  expense  of  working  mines  at 
great  depth,  and  the  cost  of  machinery  for  draining 
the  mine  or  pumping  out  the  water. 

Quartz  veins  are  often  of  great  magnitude. 
Like  the  great  "  Mother  Lode,"  of  California,  they 
may  be  scores  of  miles  in  length;  and  like  the 
mammoth  gold  lodes  of  the  Black  Hills — those  on 
"the  belt" — they  may  reach  two  hundred  feet  in 
thickness ;  or  like  the  famous  Comstock  Lode,  of 
Nevada,  which  has  been  explored  to  the  depth  of 
three  thousand  feet,  they  may  reach  miles  into  the 
earth.  Two  of  the  processes  of  working  these 
veins  are  illustrated  by  the  opposite  cuts. 

The  great  Mother  Lode,  of  California,  is  a  vein, 
or  series  of  veins,  which  has  been  traced  on  a  lon- 
gitudinal line,  with  occasional  interruptions,  for  a 
length  of  about  seventy-five  miles,  from  Bear  Val- 
ley, Mariposa  County,  to  Amador  City,  Amador 
County.  Throughout  the  entire  distance  it  has  a 
general  north-west  and  south-east  course,  and  an 
almost  uniform  dip  to  the  north-east  of  about 
eighty  degrees.  In  its  course  it  crosses  moun- 
tains, valleys  and  rivers,  but  is  nearly  one  straight 
line  the  whole  distance.  Between  its  southern 
and  northern  extremities  it  is  frequently  broken 
and  lost  (invariably  so  at  the  intersection  of  the 


j  j  2  $4,000  ORE. 

principal  rivers),  making  its  appearance  again  at 
a  distance,  frequently  in  the  form  of  a  solid  wall 
of  quartz,  on  the  summits  of  the  hills  on  the  line 
of  its  strike.  These  croppings  are  visible  for 
many  miles.  It  varies  greatly  in  thickness.  Fre- 
quently, from  a  series  of  parallel,  narrow  veins,  it 
becomes  concentrated  in  one  strong,  permanent, 
true  fissure  vein,  of  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  feet 
wide. 

Usually  most  all  true  veins  increase  in  richness 
with  depth ;  and  it  is  the  exception,  rather  than 
the  rule,  that  the  reverse  is  the  case ;  yet  the 
Comstock  Lode,  which  has  been  explored  from 
twenty- two  hundred  to  three  thousand  feet  in 
depth,  and  from  which  about  four  hundred  millions 
in  bullion  have  been  extracted,  was  the  richest 
near  the  surface.  The  first  forty  tons  of  ore  taken 
from  the  Ophir  Mine,  on  the  lode,  was  "packed" 
on  mules,  and  sent  across  the  Sierra  Nevadas  to 
San  Francisco,  and  yielded  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  dollars,  or  an  average  of  four  thousand 
dollars  per  ton.  Yet  no  body  of  ore,  of  conse- 
quence, has  since  been  found  approaching  this 
value  per  ton.  It  may  readily  be  imagined  that 
the  discovery  of  four-thousand-dollar  ore  created 
an  intense  excitement  in  California. 

In  some  of  the  mines,  the  ore  now  averages 
from  forty  to  one  hundred  dollars  per  ton.  The 
great  lode  varies  in  width  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet,  and  its  length  is  about  four  miles. 


VARIOUS  THEORIES.  j  j  ^ 

Many  theories  exist  as  to  the  formation  of  such 
immense  fissures,  and  as  to  the  causes  which  filled 
them  with  quartz  and  ore,  and  there  is  a  great 
diversity  of  opinion  among  scientific  men  in  regard 
to  it. 

The  theory  probably  most  commonly  accepted 
by  practical  miners  is,  that  of  filling  from  below, 
or  the  pushing  up  of  vein  matter  from  the  bowels 
of  the  earth,  in  a  liquid  state,  filling  the  fissures  or 
cracks  in  the  earth's  crust,  thus  forming  these 
great  bodies  of  ore. 

We  give  below  an  extract  from  an  address  by 
Mr.  Adolph  Sutro,  the  projector  and  chief  engineer 

The  Sutro  Tunnel. 

of  the  celebrated  Sutro  Tunnel,  which  pierces  the 
Comstock  Lode  at  a  depth  of  seventeen  hundred 
feet  from  the  surface,  and  is  over  four  miles  in 
length,  being  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and 
skillful  engineering  feats  ever  accomplished  in  the 
United  States,  and  which  is  of  incalculable  value 
to  the  Comstock  Mines  as  a  drainage  level  and 
means  of  ventilation. 

Mr.  Sutro  may  therefore  be  considered  high 
authority  on  this  subject,  and  his  views  are  enti- 
tled to  great  consideration.  The  address  was 
delivered  before  the  New  York  Bullion  Club, 
November  6th,  1879. 

"The  Comstock  Lode  appears  on  the  surface  of 
a  range  of  hills  called   the   Washoe  Mountains, 


j  1a  BARON  VON  RICHTHOLFEN 

lying  east  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas  and  running 
parallel  therewith.  The  lode  occurs  mainly  at  the 
contact  of  two  kinds  of  rock,  and  is  therefore  in 
fact,  to  a  large  extent,  a  contact  vein,  though  in 
other  parts,  as  at  the  north  and  south  ends,  it  is 
surrounded  by  the  same  kinds  of  country  rock. 
The  central  portion  of  this  mountain  range  is 
formed  by  Mount  Davidson,  a  mountain  rising  to 
the  height  of  about  seven  thousand  eight  hundred 
feet,  and  which  consists  of  syenite  ;  this  is  probably 
the  oldest  formation  of  that  neighborhood. 

"  Immediately  east,  and  in  fact  west  of  Mount 
Davidson,  we  find  greenstone  or  porphyry,  of 
which  great  varieties  exist,  and  which  for  con- 
venience are  called  by  the  family  name  of  prophy- 
lite.  Still  further  east  we  find  the  trachytic  moun- 
tain range. 

"There  have  been  various  theories  advanced  as 
to  the  origin  of  that  lode,  but  there  can  be  hardly  a 
doubt  that  it  is  a  true  fissure  vein ;  all  evidence 
tends  to  show  that  such  is  the  fact. 

Formation  of  the  Fissure— Comstock  Lode. 

"  According  to  Baron  Von  Richtholfen  (who  is 
probably  one  of  the  ablest  geologists  now  living, 
and  who  has  made  a  careful  examination  of  the 
Comstock  section  of  country,  spending  nearly  two 
years  there),  the  syenite  is  the  oldest  formation, 
the  prophylite  or  greenstone  coming  next  in  order, 
while  the  trachyte  is  the  outburst  which  appeared 


PROBABLE  THEORY.  !  j  t- 

at  the  latest  geological  period.  If  we  examine  the 
locality,  we  find,  as  already  indicated,  that  the 
Comstock  Lode  occurs  mainly  between  the  syenite 
and  porphyry.  The  probability  is  that  when  the 
trachyte  made  its  appearance,  the  upheaval  was 
so  great  that  it  uplifted  a  large  portion  of  the 
greenstone. 

"  The  effect  of  this  upheaval  was,  that  a  fissure 
was  formed  at  the  plane  of  least  resistance,  that  is, 
at  the  point  of  contact  between  the  two  rocks 
(the  syenite  and  porphyry),  large  masses  of  country 
rock  from  the  hanging  wall  falling  into  the  fissure, 
forming  what  we  now  call  'horses/  were  the 
cause  of  keeping  the  fissure  open. 

"  Had  it  not  been  for  the  fact  of  these  masses 
falling  into  the  fissure,  it  would  in  all  probability 
have  closed  up  again.  But  in  this  manner  there 
was  left  an  open  channel  down  to  an  indefinite 
depth,  which  gradually  became  filled,  probably  by 
means  of  thermal  agencies,  or  possibly  by  volatili- 
zation, according  to  the  different  theories  which 
scientific  men  accept. 

Filling  of  the  Fissure. 

"  These  masses  or  horses  must  have  necessarily 
fallen  into  the  fissure  from  above ;  and  as  a  proof, 
we  have  the  fact  that  in  the  Comstock  Lode,  every 
'horse*  consists  of  greenstone,  that  being  the 
upper  rock,  the  syenite  being  at  the  bottom,  none 
of  it  could  have  fallen  into  the  lode.  The  open 
7 


j  j  5  GOLD  IN  GASEOUS  FORM. 

spaces  thus  left  in  the  fissure  were  gradually  filled 
and  the  horses  became  surrounded  by  quartz  and 
minerals,  mainly  silver  ores  carrying  more  or  less 
gold,  which  are  sometimes  accompanied  by  the 
base  metals. 

"  I  listened  with  great  attention  to  the  lecture 
of  Professor  Newburry,  delivered  last  week,  in 
which  he  expressed  the  opinion,  that  the  particular 
fissure  which  he  was  describing  had  been  filled  in 
with  ore  by  the  process  of  deposits  from  thermal 
waters. 

"  It  seems  to  me.  hardly  probable  that  the  Corn- 
stock  Lode  was  entirely  filled  in  that  way.  It  is 
probable  that  different  processes  were  at  work  at 
different  periods  ;  and  it  is  very  likely  that  a  por- 
tion of  the  vein  matter  which  now  fills  that  lode, 
entered  it  by  the  process  of  volatilization. 

Volatilization. 

"  It  seems  difficult  to  imagine  silver  or  gold  in  a 
gaseous  form ;  but  if  you  consider  for  a  moment  it 
does  not  appear  strange.  We  know  that  all  the 
substances  of  the  entire  globe  exist  in  one  of  three 
forms ;  solid,  liquid  or  gaseous ;  while  some  sub- 
stances are  familiar  to  us  in  all  three  forms.  Take 
water  for  instance,  we  know  it  as  a  solid  when  it 
is  ice,  we  know  it  as  a  liquid  ordinarily,  and  we 
know  it  as  a  gas  in  the  form  of  vapor.  We  know 
all  the  metals  in  two  of  these  forms ;  as  solids  and 
liquids   when    molten.     We   know    some    of  the 


LAB  OR  A  TOR  Y  OF  NA  TURE.  j  j  y 

metals  in  all  three  of  the  forms.  In  fact,  in  our 
laboratories,   we   can   convert   many   solids   into 

The  Theory  of  Volatilization. 

liquids  by  melting,  and  even  into  gases  by  volatili- 
zation. 

"  Now,  if  we  imagine  the  great  laboratory  of  na- 
ture down  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  where  all 
the  agencies  probably  exist  which  are  necessary 
for  reducing  these  various  minerals  to  a  gaseous 
state,  the  filling  of  fissure  veins  with  metals  does 
not  appear  so  difficult  of  explanation. 

"  We  must  try  to  realize  that  in  the  fact  that  in 
that  laboratory  of  nature,  there  may  exist  a  pres- 
sure of  millions  of  millions  of  pounds  to  the  square 
inch,  and  that  the  steam  which  is  there  generated 
may  be  heated  to  a  white  heat ;  that  is,  hot  enough 
to  melt  iron  or  any  other  substance.  If  we  can 
imagine  such  a  heat  as  that,  we  can  readily  perceive 
how  any  substance  might  be  volatilized;  and  if 
to  these  two  forces  certain  chemical  agents  are 
added,  the  transformation  will  seem  still  more 
probable.  I  doubt  that  a  vein  of  the  size  of  the 
Comstock  could  ever  have  entirely  been  filled  by 
deposits  from  water. 

Downward  Continuance  of  the  Comstock: 

"  These  theories  may  be  correct  or  not,  but  we 
do  absolutely  know  that  we  have  here  a  vein 
which  lies  between  Mount  Davidson,  the  syenitic 


ITg  POCKETS  OR  CHANNELS. 

mountain,  and  the  prophylite  adjoining  it,  extend- 
ing for  a  distance  of  four  miles,  and  reaching 
downward  as  far  as  the  miners  have  gone,  and  in 
all  probability  further  than  mechanical  means  will 
ever  permit  man  to  go.  There  are  obstacles  in 
the  way  which  will  prevent  exploration  to  an  in-* 

Great  Depth  of  the  Comstock  Lode. 

definite  depth.  As  far  as  the  lode  itself  is  con- 
cerned, we  find  it  retains  its  general  characteristics 
at  various  depths,  that  it  varies  in  width  from  fifty 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  that  it  consists  of 
solid  quartz  interspersed  with  particles  of  ore; 
but  that  in  many  portions  it  is  not  sufficiently  rich 
in  ore  to  pay  largely  for  extracting. 

"  It  seems  that  the  ore  of  the  Comstock  Lode 
often  occurs  in  the  form  of  pockets,  or  channels, 
or  chimneys,  or,  as  we  call  them  when  we  find  a 
great  ore  body,  *  Bonanzas/  It  is  strange  that  in 
the  vein  itself  a  Bonanza  hardly  ever  occurs. 

Bonanzas. 

"The  lode  descends  on  an  incline  eastwardly, 
following  the  dip  of  Mount  Davidson.  In  places  the 
pitch  is  greater  than  at  others,  but  the  average  is 
about  forty-five  degrees.  The  ore  bodies  seem  to 
occur  outside  and  to  the  east  of  the  vein ;  they  are 
generally  of  lenticular  form.  It  frequently  hap- 
pens that  in  sinking  a  shaft,  or  in  running  a  drift, 


CAUSE  OF  FLUCTUATIONS.  Hq 

no  ore  at  all  is  found ;  a  drift  may  run  right  over 
or  under  it,  while  the  very  next  drift  may  show  an 
ore  body  of  great  width. 

"  This  accounts  for  the  great  fluctuations  which 
have  taken  place  in  the  prices  of  the  stocks  of 
mining  companies  on  the  Comstock  Lode. 

"  People  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  situation 
do  not  understand  the  reason  for  such  fluctuations. 
But  what  I  have  stated  will  explain  one  of  the 
causes. 

"  These  ore  bodies  are  not  confined  to  any  par- 
ticular spot.  The  country  to  the  east  of  the  Com- 
stock Lode  may  contain  ore  bodies  to  an  almost 
indefinite  extent.  If  we  imagine,  which  I  firmly 
believe,  that  the  Comstock  Lode  continues  down- 
ward for  miles,  then  it  is  possible  that  these  ore 
bodies  may  make  their  appearance  at  compara- 
tively lesser  depths,  several  thousand  feet  to  the 
eastward  of  the  present  workings.  The  disposi- 
tion of  these  ore  bodies  is  not  governed  by  any 
rule.  It  seems  to  be  entirely  arbitrary.  We  do 
not  know  where  they  are  until  we  stumble  upon 
them.  The  only  way  to  look  for  them  is  to  run 
drifts  all  through  the  country,  and  then  to  cross- 
cut from  these  every  one  hundred  or  two  hundred 
feet. 

"Some  men  say  that  the  Comstock  Lode  is 
working  out.  This  is  nonsense.  Several  deposits 
have  been  found  which  were  of  such  immense 
value  as  to  astonish  everybody.     But  these  '  Bo- 


120 


FICKLE  TREASURES. 


nanzas*  were  limited  in  number,  probably  not 
over  a  dozen  altogether;  and  they  were  always 
found  in  the  manner  I  have  described." 

From  the  foregoing  it  will  appear  that  the  value 
of  any  vein,  when  first  discovered,  is  very  uncer- 
tain. It  may  be  a  veritable  Bonanza,  and  it  may 
not  be  worth  anything.  The  ore  may  improve  in 
richness  with  depth,  and  it  frequently  does  im- 
prove as  sinking  on  the  vein  progresses,  or  it  may 
be  the  richest  at  the  surface,  or  become  exhausted 
entirely. 

Even  the  great  lodes  like  the  Comstock,  which 
have  yielded  their  hundreds  of  millions,  are  very 
fickle  and  uncertain  in  showing  up  their  treasures. 

Carbonate  Ores  of  Colorado, 

Frequently*  they  have  long  periods  of  unproduc- 
tiveness, before  they  stumble  upon  the  rich  pockets 
or  shutes  of  ore  which  they  may  contain.  There- 
fore, it  is  very  uncertain  how  much  wealth  the  dis- 
coverer of  a  lode  may  have  found,  and  it  may  take 
years  to  fully  develop  the  mine  and  prove  its  real 
value. 

Hence  it  is  that  quartz  mining  is  usually  carried 
on  by  large  capitalists,  by  means  of  great  corpora- 
tions, as  the  risk  and  expense  is  very  great  for 
private  enterprise.  Yet  there  are  many  valuable 
mines  successfully  operated  by  private  companies 
or  by  individuals. 

There  is  another  class  of  ore  deposits  to  which 


CARBONATE  ORES.  I2I 

we  should  briefly  refer  under  this  head,  though  a 
more  extended  description  of  them  will  be  found 
hereafter,  in  the  Colorado  portion  of  this  book 
We  refer  to  the  carbonate  ores  of  Colorado. 

These  deposits,  when  discovered,  were  almost 
new  to  the  mining  fraternity,  and  have  astonished 
the  world  in  their  magnitude  and  in  their  peculiar 
formation  and  richness  in  production.  They  can 
hardly  be  called  veins,  but  are  vast  deposits,  lying 
in  nearly  a  horizontal  position,  like  a  coal  measure. 
They  have  been  called  contact  veins,  because 
lying  between  the  contact  of  limestone  covered 
by  porphyry ;  but  they  were  so  different  from  the 
contact  deposits  of  previous  history  in  mining, 
that  miners  were  some  time  in  learning  their  true 
nature  and  extent.  They  are  deposits  of  silver 
ore,  mixed  with  carbonate  of  lead  and  iron,  lying 
on  a  foot- wall  or  bed  of  limestone,  and  covered  by 
porphyry,  varying  in  thickness  from  a  trace  to 
thirty  or  forty  feet  of  ore — even  seventy  feet  is 
claimed  to  have  been  found  of  solid  ore.  They 
lie  in  a  horizontal  position,  in  places  but  a  few  de- 
grees from  level,  following  the  waves  and  depres- 
sions of  the  limestone  foot-wall,  and  covering 
many  square  miles  in  extent,  not  unlike  a  coal 
basin.  The  ore  bodies  vary  as  greatly  in  richness 
as  in  the  extent  and  thickness  of  the  vein  matter, 
and  mill,  by  smelting  in  furnaces,  from  ten  to  one 
thousand  dollars  per  ton.  Even  greater  richness 
has  been  found,  but  the  average  is  generally  from 


j  22  NATURE  OF  ORES. 

fifty  to  one  hundred  dollars  per  ton.  We  will 
refer  to  this  subject  again  later  in  the  work. 

The  First  Quartz-mill 

was  built  in  California,  at  Grass  Valley,  Nevada 
County,  in  1851,  where  quartz  mining  has  been 
successfully  carried  on  ever  since.  It  was  not 
unlike  the  stamp-mills  of  to-day,  but,  of  course, 
imperfect,  and  has  been  greatly  improved. 

The  stamp-mill  is  the  process  used  on  all  ores 
of  gold  and  silver  which  are  free  milling  ores ; 
that  is,  ores  not  requiring  to  be  smelted  in  a  fur- 
nace, or  roasted,  to  extract  the  minerals  they  con- 
tain. Some  ores  are  of  such  a  refractory  nature 
that  it  is  impossible  to  extract  their  contents  by 
this  process.  Such  ores  usually  contain  a  mixture 
of  sulphur,  lead  or  copper,  or  all,  in  addition  to  the 
precious  metals,  in  such  quantities  as  to  prevent 
their  being  amalgamated  with  quicksilver,  in  the 
ordinary  stamp-mill,  and  require  smelting. 

The  Stamp-mill. 

All  stamp-mills  are  built  upon  the  principle  of 
crushing  the  ores  to  a  fine  paste  or  pulp,  and  thus 
loosening  the  metals  from  their  matrix  of  quartz  ; 
they  are  amalgamated  with  quicksilver  in  sluices 
or  batteries  with  water,  after  the  manner  described 
heretofore. 

Stamp-mills  are  built  with  from  five  to  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  stamps   each,  according  to  the 


SPERRY'S  WROUGHT  IRON  FRAME  STAMP  MILLS. 


Until  within  the  past  two  or  three  years,  the  cost  of  wrought  iron  excluded 
its  use  in  very  many  important  places.  The  price  at  present  enables  us  to 
make  the  frame  for  a  Stamp  mill  of  wrought  iron,  and  successfully  compete 
with  the  wooden  frame  in  price,  and  make  the  battery  very  much  better  than 
by  the  use  of  wood,  especially  as  in  most  instances  the  timbers  of  which  a  bat- 
tery frame  is  to  be  made,  are  cut  from  the  forest  and  used  almost  immediately, 
without  the  least  seasoning.  When  such  timbers  are  used,  although  put  to- 
gether by  the  most  skilled  workmen,  they  shrink  and  open  at  the  joints. 
Soon  the  whole  structure  becomes  shaky;  the  nuts  upon  the  bolts  jar  loose, 
requiring  constant  attention.  These  defects  are  all  overcome  by  the  use  of 
wrought  iron  in  the  construction  of  the  battery  frame.  This  material  being 
slightly  elastic,  successfully  prevents  the  transmission  of  the  jar  through  the 
frame,  and  by  the  use  of  washers  of  the  same  material  the  nuts  will  not  jar 
loose  from  the  bolts. 


THE  HOWLAND  PULVERIZER. 

The  ore  is  fed  through  the  opening  in  the  top  of  the  bonnet- casting;  imme- 
diately on  falling  upon  the  revolving  disc-plate,  it  is  carried  outward  by  centri- 
fugal force  to  the  rings  or  rolls,  and  when  pulverized  fine  enough,  is  ejected 
through  the  screens  to  a  circular  trough  conveying  it  to  copper  plates  for 
amalgamation,  or  run  into  tanks  for  settling.  The  machine  is  constructed 
also  for  dry  pulverizing ;  it  will  pulverize  about  one-fourth  less  dry  than  wet. 
The  frame  for  the  machine  is  made  of  southern  pine  timber,  is  mortised  and 
tenoned  throughout  and  held  by  strong  joint-bolts.  Each  machine  is  put  to- 
gether at  the  works,  and  finished,  marked  and  taken  down  for  shipment. 
An  automatic  feeder  is  provided  especially  for  this  machine,  that  will  feed 
the  ore  continuously.  A  rock  breaker  is  provided  also  which  is  particularly 
adapted  to  breaking  the  ore  to  the  proper  size  for  this  machine,  which  must 
not  be  larger  than  one  inch.  This  machine  will  pulverize  wet,  hard  quartz 
rock  to  a  fineness  that  will  pass  through  a  40-mesh  screen,  one  ton  per  hour, 
and  will  pulverize  dry  to  pass  through  a  60-mesh  screen,  half  to  three-quar- 
ters of  a  ton  per  hour. 


OPERA  TION  OF  STAMP-MILL. 


123 


capacity  required.  These  stamps  may  be  termed 
shafts,  or  bars  of  iron,  standing  perpendicular, 
weighing-  from  six  hundred  to  nine  hundred 
pounds  each,  their  feet  or  lower  ends  shod  with 
steel,  which  drop  into  iron  mortars  or  boxes,  also 
plated  with  steel.  These  stamps  are  raised  by 
means  of  "  cams  "  or  eccentrics,  placed  on  a  hori- 
zontal shaft  of  iron  about  five  inches  in  diameter, 
which  lifts  them  up  from  eight  to  eleven  inches, 
when  they  instantly  drop  into  the  shoe  or 
mortar  with  great  force  upon  the  ore  placed 
therein. 

The  ore,  after  being  crushed  in  a  rock-breaker 
to  the  size  of  an  eggf  or  smaller,  is  introduced  into 
the  shoes,  into  which  a  stream  of  water  is  running, 
and  the  stamps  drop  upon  it  at  the  rate  of  sixty 
strokes  per  minute,  for  each  stamp,  crushing  it 
to  a  fine  paste.  In  this  state  the  ore  passes  off 
through  a  screen  and  on  to  the  sluices  or  blankets, 
over  copper  plates  or  into  pans,  according  to 
the  plan  of  the  mill  and  according  to  the  kind 
of  amalgamating  apparatus  used,  which  col- 
lect the  gold  and  silver.  The  mills  are  usually 
"  cleaned  up"  every  week,  and  the  amalgam  re- 
torted, as  in  hydraulic  mining. 

A  good  stamp-mill  will  crush  nearly  two  tons  of 
ore  to  each  stamp  in  twenty-four  hours.  They 
are  driven  by  both  steam  and  water-power. 

As  the  location  of  veins  and  placer  claims,  and 
the  laws  and  regulations  governing  their  location, 


j  24  SUBJECT  OF  TITLE. 

are  intimately  associated  with  the  subject  of 
mining,  and  as  a  knowledge  of  the  subject  is  in- 
dispensable to  those  seeking  Government  title  to 
mineral  lands,  in  the  next  chapter  will  be  found 
the  most  important  laws  on  that  subject. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  stamp-mills  and 
pulverizers,  the  following  explanation  of  the  Phelps 
"  Little  Giant "  Stone  and  Ore-Crusher  (of  which 
pictures  are  given  on  the  opposite  page)  will  be 
of  interest  and  profit : 

EXPLANATION    OF   OPPOSITE   CUTS. 

A.  Side  Plates. 
BB.  False  Crushing  Plates. 
'  C.  Wrought-Iron  Side  Bars. 
DD.  Set  Screws  and  Plates. 

F.  Reciprocating  Jaw. 

G.  Rock  Shaft. 
H.  Toggle. 

I.  Liners,  or  hacking,  by  means  of  which  the  Reciprocating  Jaw  is 
adjusted  to  crush  fine  or  coarse. 
J.  Main  Shaft. 
K.  Eccentric  Pitman. 
L.  Eccentric. 
M.  FlyWheel. 
N.  Spring. 
O.  Pedestal. 
P.  Bearing  of  Reciprocating  Jaw.     (Dust  proof.) 


SECTIONAL  VIEW. 


THE  "LITTLE  GIANT"  STONE  AND  ORE  CRUSHER. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MINING  LAWS — HOW  TO   LOCATE  MINERAL  CLAIMS. 

The  Size  of  a  Legal  Claim,  etc. 

IN  the  early  days  of  gold  mining  in  California, 
and  in  other  States  and  Territories,  on  lands 
belonging  to  the  United  States,  the  mining 
laws  were  very  imperfect,  and  disputes  about  the 
titles  of  claims  were  of  constant  occurrence. 

It  appears  that  upon  the  discovery  of  every  new 
gold  field,  that  the  miners  met  and  organized  what 
was  termed  a  "  Mining  District,"  fixing  certain 
boundaries  for  it,  and  adopting  a  code  of  laws  and 
regulations  governing  the  size  of  claims  within  the 
boundaries  named.  Therefore,  each  new  district, 
although  generally  following  after  previous  codes, 
was  liable  to  have  a  set  of  laws  quite  different 
from  other  localities,  and  entirely  dependent  on 
the  fancy  of  the  miners  who  organized  it.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  size  of  a  claim  that  miners  could 
hold  varied  greatly  in  different  localities — such 
being  the  crude  state  of  the  laws  in  those  days — 
and  very  naturally  disputes  about  title  were  very 
frequent. 

In  the  early  days  there  were  no  courts  conve- 
nient to  settle  such  disputes,  and  a  class  of  miners 
called  "Jumpers/*  taking  advantage  of  this  fact, 
became  very  numerous.     If  a  miner  found  a  rich 

127 


j  28  JUMPING  CLAIMS, 

vein  or  a  lucky  strike,  he  was  not  at  all  sure  of 
holding  his  claim  unmolested  from  this  lawless 
class.  If  he  left  his  claim  for  a  short  time,  he 
might  return  to  find  another  in  possession,  who 
would  dispute  his  title  if  ever  so  good,  and  as 
there  was  no  authority  at  hand  to  expel  such 
intruders,  except  the  law  of  physical  force,  men 
frequently  took  the  law  into  their  own  hands,  and 
generally  the  strongest  party  held  the  claim. 

From  this  cause  there  was  much  wrangling,  and 
frequently  bloodshed  and  murder  were  of  common 
occurrence.  Jumping  claims,  if  not  so  common 
now  as  in  those  days,  is  still  in  vogue,  and  such 
occurrences  are  common  in  all  new  mining"  re- 
gions,  though  to  a  less  extent  than  formerly,  and 
probably  always  will  be.  There  can  hardly  be 
any  law  or  authority  strong  enough  to  entirely 
protect  the  weak  against  the  strong,  when  great 
selfishness  and  lust  for  gold  are  the  leading  charac- 
teristics of  the  community. 

According  to  the  revised  statutes  of  the  United 
States,  no  vein  or  lode  claim  made  subsequent  to 
May  ioth,  1872,  can  exceed  in  size  a  parallelo- 
gram fifteen  hundred  feet  long  by  six  hundred 
feet  wide.  But  whether  surface-ground  of  that 
width  can  be  taken,  depends  upon  the  local  regu- 
lations of  State  or  Territorial  laws  in  force  in  the 
several  mining  districts.  But  no  local  regulations 
of  State  or  Territory  can  limit  a  vein  or  lode  claim 
to  less  than  fifteen  hundred  feet  in  length  along 


VARIO  US  LIMITS  ALIO  WED.  j  2  q 

the  course  thereof,  whether  the  location  be  made 
by  one  or  more  persons,  and  surface  rights  cannot 
be  limited  to  less  than  fifty  feet  in  width,  unless 
adjoining  claims  previously  located  on  each  side 
render  such  limitation  necessary.  The  end  lines 
of  all  claims  must  be  parallel  to  each  other. 

The  Cost  of  a  Government  Patent, 

The  owner  can  follow  his  vein  anywhere  in  all 
its  dips,  spurs  and  angles,  providing  he  does  not 
go  outside  of  his  end  lines. 

In  Colorado,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act,  in 
1874,  that  all  locations  made  thereafter  in  the  Ter- 
ritory should  carry  with  them  surface-ground  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  on  each  side  of  the 
centre  of  the  vein,  or  in  other  words,  could  not 
exceed  in  size  a  parallelogram  three  hundred  feet 
by  fifteen  hundred  feet,  except  in  the  four  counties 
of  Boulder,  Gilpin,  Clear  Creek  and  Park,  where 
seventy-five  feet  on  either  side  of  the  vein  should 
be  the  rule,  making  a  legal  claim  in  these  four 
counties  of  half  the  width  above  given.  The  law, 
however,  does  not  interfere  with  lodes  discovered 
prior  to  their  adoption. 

Previous  to  the  enactment  of  this  law,  claims 
had  been  of  various  sizes  at  different  periods.  At 
one  time,  the  discoverer  of  a  lode  could  hold  but 
two  hundred  feet  on  the  vein,  and  subsequent 
locators  but  one  hundred  feet  on  the  same  vein. 
Afterward  it  was  chang-ed  to  fourteen  hundred 


j  ^q  COST  OF  A  PA  TENT. 

feet  for  the  discoverer,  and  for  a  short  time  it  was 
enacted  that  the  discoverer  could  hold  three  thou- 
sand feet  on  the  lode. 

After  a  Government  patent  has  been  issued  for 
a  lode  claim,  the  owner  can  hold  it  against  all 
comers  or  claimants,  whether  he  works  it  steadily 
or  allows  it  to  remain  idle. 

The  cost  of  procuring  a  Government  patent  is 
from  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars,  when  the  location  embraces  one 
thousand  five  hundred  feet  by  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,  and  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  dollars 
more  than  this,  when  fifteen  hundred  feet  by  three 
hundred  feet  are  included.  The  former  class 
embrace  about  five  six-hundreths  acres,  and  the 
latter  about  ten  thirty-three-hundredths  acres, 
which,  at  five  dollars  per  acre,  the  price  fixed  by 
the  Government,  is  not  far  from  twenty-six  and 
fifty-two  dollars  for  the  land.  The  other  expenses 
are  twenty-five  dollars  for  the  surveyor-general ; 
from  thirty  to  forty-five  dollars  for  the  deputy  sur- 
veyor; twelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  certi- 
fied copies  and  abstracts;  ten  dollars  for  filing; 
eighteen  dollars  for  advertising  in  the  newspapers, 
and  fifteen  dollars  for  notary  fees,  all  of  which 
have  been  made  sufficiently  large  in  this  estimate. 

The  laws  provide  that  five  hundred  dollars 
worth  of  work  shall  be  done  upon  a  claim  before 
application  for  a  patent  can  be  made. 

The  laws  of  Dakota  Territory,  governing  the 


REVISED   STATUTES.  j-j 

size  of  claims  in  the  Black  Hills  country,  provide 
that  a  vein  or  lode  claim  shall  be  in  width  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  on  each  side  of  the  centre 
of  the  vein,  or  that  its  surface-lines  cannot  exceed 
a  parallelogram  of  three  hundred  by  fifteen  hun- 
dred feet. 

In  regard  to  placer  claims,  their  size  is  in  such  a 
measure  dependent  upon  the  local  regulations 
that  we  omit  to  give  more  than  the  United  States 
mining  law  in  regard  to  it. 

During  the  session  of  1871-72,  Congress  revised 
the  statutes  in  regard  to  the  location  of  mineral 
claims  upon  the  public  domain,  the  most  important 
part  of  which  we  publish  in  full,  because  the  knowl- 
edge therein  contained  is  indispensable  to  those 
interested  in  mining  matters. 

UNITED  STATES  MINING  LAWS  and  REGULATIONS  THEREUNDER 

Department  of  the  Intertor, 
General  Land  Office \  Feb.  1st,  1877. 

MINING  LAWS  AND  MINING  RESOURCES. 

Title  xxxii,  Chapter  6. 

Mineral  Lands  Reserved. 

4  July,  1866,  c.  166,  s.  s,  v.  14,  p.  86. 

Section  2318.  In  all  cases  lands  valuable  for 
minerals  shall  be  reserved  from  sale,  except  as 
otherwise  expressly  directed  by  law. 


!32  MINING  CLAIMS. 

Mineral  Lands  Open  to  Purchase  by  Citizens. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  1,  v.  17,  p.  91.— U.  S.  vs.  Gear,  3  How.,  120. 

Sec.  2319.  All  valuable,mineral deposits  in  lands 
belonging*  to  the  United  States,  both  surveyed  and 
unsurveyed,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  free  and 
open  to  .exploration  and  purchase,  and  the  lands 
in  which  they  are  found  to  occupation  and  pur- 
chase, by  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  those 
who  have  declared  their  intention  to  become  such, 
under  regulations  prescribed  by  law,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  local  customs  or  rules  of  miners  in  the 
several  mining  districts,  so  far  as  the  same  are  ap- 
plicable and  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  the 
United  States. 

Length  of  Mining  Claims  upon  Teins  or  Lodes. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  2,  v.  17,  p.  91. 

Sec.  2320.  Mining  claims  upon  veins  or  lodes 
of  quartz  or  other  rock  in  place  bearing  gold,  sil- 
ver, cinnabar,  lead,  tin,  copper,  or  other  valuable 
deposits,  heretofore  located,  shall  be  governed  as 
to  length  along  the  vein  or  lode  by  the  customs, 
regulations  and  laws  in  force  at  the  date  of  their 
location.  A  mining  claim  located  after  the  tenth 
day  of  May,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two, 
whether  located  by  one  or  more  persons,  may 
equal,  but  shall  not  exceed,  one  thousand  five 
hundred  feet  in  length  along  the  vein  or  lode  ;  but 
no  location  of  a  mining  claim  shall  be  made  until 
the  discovery  of  the  vein  or  lode  within  the  limits 


CITIZENSHIP.  j  ~  - 

of  the  claim  located.  No  claim  shall  extend  more 
than  three  hundred  feet  on  each  side  of  the  middle 
of  the  vein  at  the  surface,  nor  shall  any  claim  be 
limited  by  any  mining  regulation  to  less  than 
twenty-five  feet  on  each  side  of  the  middle  of  the 
vein  at  the  surface,  except  where  adverse  rights 
existing  on  the  tenth  day  of  May,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  seventy-two,  render  such  limitation  ne- 
cessary. The  end-lines  of  each  claim  shall  be 
parallel  to  each  other. 

Proof  of  Citizenship. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  7,  v.  17,  p.  94. 

Sec.  2321.  Proof  of  citizenship,  under  this  chap- 
ter, may  consist,  in  the  case  of  an  individual,  of  his 
own  affidavit  thereof;  in  the  case  of  an  association 
of  persons  unincorporated,  of  the  affidavit  of  their 
authorized  agent,  made  on  his  own  knowledge,  or 
upon  information  and  belief;  and  in  the  case  of  a 
corporation  organized  under  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  any  State  or  Territory  thereof,  by  the 
filing  of  a  certified  copy  of  their  charter  or  certifi- 
cate of  incorporation. 

Locators'  Rights  of  Possession  and  Enjoyment. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  3,  v.  17,  p.  91. 

Sec.  2322.  The  locators  of  all  mining  locations 
heretofore  made  or  which  shall  hereafter  be  made, 
on  any  mineral  vein,  lode  or  ledge,  situated  on  the 
public  domain,  their  heirs  and  assigns,  where  no  ad- 
verse claim  exists  on  the  tenth  day  of  May,  eighteen 


j  34  OWNERS'  RIGHTS. 

hundred  and  seventy-two,  so  long  as  they  comply 
with  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  with  State, 
territorial  and  local  regulations  not  in  conflict  with 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  governing  their  pos- 
sessory title,  shall  have  the  exclusive  right  of  pos- 
session and  enjoyment  of  all  the  surface  included 
within  the  lines  of  their  locations,  and  of  all  veins, 
lodes  and  ledges  throughout  their  entire  depth, 
the  top  or  apex  of  which  lies  inside  of  such  sur- 
face-lines extended  down  vertically,  although  such 
veins,  lodes  or  ledges  may  so  far  depart  from  a 
perpendicular  in  their  course' downward  as  to  ex- 
tend outside  the  vertical  side-lines  of  such  surface 
locations.  But  their  right  of  possession  to  such 
outside  parts  of  such  veins  or  ledges  shall  be  con- 
fined to  such  portions  thereof  as  lie  between  ver- 
tical planes  drawn  downward  as  above  described, 
through  the  end-lines  of  their  locations,  so  con- 
tinued in  their  own  direction  that  such  planes  will 
intersect  such  exterior  parts  of  such  veins  or  ledges. 
And  nothing  in  this  section  shall  authorize  the  lo- 
cator or  possessor  of  a  vein  or  lode  which  extends 
in  its  downward  course  beyond  the  vertical  lines 
of  his  claim  to  enter  upon  the  surface  of  a  claim 
owned  or  possessed  by  another. 

Rights  of  Owners  of  Tunnels. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  4,  v.  17,  p.  92. 

Sec.  2323.  Where  a  tunnel  is  run  for  the  devel- 
opment of  a  vein  or  lode,  or  for  the  discovery  of 


MINERS'   PRIVILEGES. 


135 


mines,  the  owners  of  such  tunnel  shall  have  the 
right  of  possession  of  all  veins  or  lodes  within 
three  thousand  feet  from  the  face  of  such  tunnel 
on  the  line  thereof,  not  previously  known  to  exist, 
discovered  in  such  tunnel,  to  the  same  extent  as  if 
discovered  from  the  surface ;  and  locations  on  the 
line  of  such  tunnel  of  veins  or  lodes  not  appearing 
on  the  surface,  made  by  other  parties  after  the 
commencement  of  the  tunnel,  and  while  the  same 
is  being  prosecuted  with  reasonable  diligence,  shall 
be  invalid ;  but  failure  to  prosecute  the  work  on 
the  tunnel  for  six  months  shall  be  considered  as 
an  abandonment  of  the  right  to  all  undiscovered 
veins  on  the  line  of  such  tunnel. 

Regulations  Made  by  Miners. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  5,  v.  17,  p.  92. 

Sec.  2324. .The  miners  of  each  mining  district 
may  make  regulations  not  in  conflict  with  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  or  with  the  laws  of  the  State 
or  Territory  in  which  the  district  is  situated,  gov- 
erning the  location,  manner  of  recording,  amount 
of  work  necessary  to  hold  possession  of  a  mining 
claim,  subject  to  the  following  requirements.  The 
location  must  be  distinctly  marked  on  the  ground, 
so  that  its  boundaries  can  be  readily  traced.  All 
records  of  mining  claims  hereafter  made  shall  con- 
tain the  name  or  names  of  the  locators,  the  date 
of  the  location,  and  such  a  description  of  the  claim 
or  claims  located  by  reference  to  some  natural  ob- 


136 


STIPULA  TIONS. 


ject  or  permanent  monument  as  will  identify  the 
claim.  On  each  claim  located  after  the  tenth  day 
of  May,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two,  and 
until  a  patent  has  been  issued  therefor,  not  less 
than  one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  labor  shall  be 
performed  on  improvements  made  during  each 
year.  On  all  claims  located  prior  to  the  tenth 
day  of  May,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two, 
ten  dollars'  worth  of  labor  shall  be  performed  or 
improvements  made  by  the  tenth  day  of  June, 
eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-four,  and  each  year 
thereafter,  for  each  one  hundred  feet  in  length 
along  the  vein  until  a  patent  has  been  issued 
therefor ;  but  where  such  claims  are  held  in  com- 
mon, such  expenditure  may  be  made  upon  any 
one  claim ;  and  upon  a  failure  to  comply  with 
these  conditions,  the  claim  or  mine  upon  which 
such  failure  occurred  shall  be  open  to  relocation 
in  the  same  manner  as  if  no  location  of  the  same 
had  ever  been  made,  provided  that  the  original 
locators,  their  heirs,  assigns,  or  legal  representa- 
tives, have  not  resumed  work  upon  the  claim  after 
failure  and  before  such  location.  Upon  the  failure 
of  any  one  of  several  co-owners  to  contribute  his 
proportion  of  the  expenditures  required  hereby, 
the  co-owners  who  have  performed  the  labor  or 
made  the  improvements  may,  at  the  expiration  of 
the  year,  give  such  delinquent  co-owner  personal 
notice  in  writing,  or  notice  by  publication  in  the 
newspaper  published  nearest  the  claim,  for  at  least 


OB  TAINING  PA  TENT.  '  j  ^  j 

once  a  week  for  ninety  days,  and  if  at  the  expira- 
tion of  ninety  days  after  such  notice  in  writing  or 
by  publication  such  delinquent  should  fail  or  refuse 
to  contribute  his  proportion  of  the  expenditure  re- 
quired by  this  section,  his  interest  in  the  claim 
shall  become  the  property  of  his  co-owners  who 
have  made  the  required  expenditures. 

Patents  for  Mineral  Lands,  How  Obtained. 

10  Mayt  1872,  c.  152,  s.  6,  v.  17,  p.  92. 

Sec.  2325.  A  patent  for  any  land  claimed  and 
located  for  valuable  deposits  may  be  obtained  in 
the  following-  manner:  Any  person,  association 
or  corporation  authorized  to  locate  a  claim  under 
this  chapter,  having  claimed  and  located  a  piece  of 
land  for  such  purposes,  who  has,  or  have,  complied 
with  the  terms  of  this  chapter,  may  file  in  the 
proper  land  office  an  application  for  a  patent,  un- 
der oath,  showing  such  compliance,  together  with 
a  plat  and  field-notes  of  the  claim  or  claims  in 
common,  made  by  or  under  the  direction  of  the 
United  States  surveyor-general,  showing  accu- 
rately the  boundaries  of  the  claim  or  claims,  which 
shall  be  distinctly  marked  by  monuments  on  the 
ground,  and  shall  post  a  copy  of  such  plat,  to- 
gether with  a  notice  of  such  application  for  a 
patent,  in  a  conspicuous  place  on  the  land  embraced 
in  such  plat  previous  to  the  filing  of  the  applica- 
tion for  a  patent,  and  shall  file  an  affidavit  of  at 
least  two  persons  that  such  notice  had  been  duly 


j  -g  REQUIREMENTS. 

posted,  and  shall  file  a  copy  of  the  notice  in  such 
land  office,  and  shall  thereupon  be  entitled  to  a 
patent  for  the  land,  in  the  manner  following:  The 
register  of  the  land  office,  upon  the  filing  of  such 
application,  plat,  field-notes,  notices  and  affidavits, 
shall  publish  a  notice  that  such  application  has 
been  made,  for  the  period  of  sixty  days,  in  a  news- 
paper to  be  by  him  designated  as  published  nearest 
to  such  claim ;  and  he  shall  also  post  such  notice 
in  his  office  for  the  same  period.  The  claimant  at 
the  time  of  filing  this  application,  or  at  any  time 
thereafter,  within  the  sixty  days  of  publication, 
shall  file  with  the  register  a  certificate  of  the 
United  States  surveyor-general  that  five  hundred 
dollars'  worth  of  labor  has  been  expended  or  im- 
provements made  upon  the  claim  by  himself  or 
grantors ;  that  the  plat  is  correct,  with  such  fur- 
ther description  by  such  reference  to  natural  ob- 
jects or  permanent  monuments  as  shall  identify 
the  claim,  and  furnish  an  accurate  description,  to 
be  incorporated  in  the  patent.  At  the  expiration 
of  the  sixty  days  of  publication  the  claimant  shall 
file  his  affidavit,  showing  that  the  plat  and  notice 
have  been  posted  in  a  conspicuous  place  on  the 
claim  during  such  period  of  publication.  If  no  ad- 
verse claim  shall  have  been  filed  with  the  register 
and  the  receiver  of  the  proper  land  office  at  the 
expiration  of  the  sixty  days  of  publication,  it  shall 
be  assumed  that  the  applicant  is  entitled  to  a 
patent,  upon  the  payment  to  the  proper  officer  of 


ADVERSE  CLAIMS.  j  ^g 

five  dollars  per  acre,  and  that  no  adverse  claim 
exists  ;  and  thereafter  no  objection  from  third  par- 
ties to  the  issuance  of  a  patent  shall  be  heard, 
except  it  be  shown  that  the  applicant  has  failed  to 
comply  with  the  terms  of  this  chapter. 

Adyerse  Claim,  Proceedings  on, 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  7,  v.  17,  p.  93, 

Sec,  2326.  Where  an  adverse  claim  is  filed  dur- 
ing the  period  of  publication,  it  shall  be  upon  oath 
of  the  person  or  persons  making  the  same,  and 
shall  show  the  nature,  boundaries  and  extent 
of  such  adverse  claim,  and  all  proceedings,  except 
the  publication  of  notice  and  making  and  filing  of 
the  affidavit  thereof,  shall  be  stayed  until  the  con- 
troversy shall  have  been  settled  or  decided  by  a 
court  of  competent  jurisdiction,  or  the  adverse 
claim  waived.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  adverse 
claimant,  within  thirty  days  after  filing  his  clairn 
to  commence  proceedings  in  a  court  of  competent 
jurisdiction,  to  determine  the  question  of  the  right 
of  possession,  and  prosecute  the  same  with  reason- 
able diligence  to  final  judgment ;  and  a  failure  so 
to  do  shall  be  a  waiver  of  his  adverse  claim. 
After  such  judgment  shall  have  been  rendered, 
the  party  entitled  to  the  possession  of  the  claim, 
or  any  portion  thereof,  may,  without  giving  further 
notice,  file  a  certified  copy  of  the  judgment-roll  with 
the  register  of  the  land  office,  together  with  the 
certificate  of  the  surveyor-general,  that  the  requisite 


!  »  0  K£/iV  CLAIMS. 

amount  of  labor  has  been  expended  or  improve- 
ments made  thereon,  and  the  description  required 
in  other  cases,  and  shall  pay  to  the  receiver  five 
dollars  per  acre  for  his  claim,  together  with  the 
proper  fees, 'whereupon  the  whole  proceedings  and 
the  judgment-roll  shall  be  certified  by  the  register 
to  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office, 
and  a  patent  shall  issue  thereon  for  the  claim,  or 
such  portion  thereof  as  the  applicant  shall  appear, 
from  the  decision  of  the  court,  to  rightly  possess. 
If  it  appears  from  the  decision  of  the  court  that 
several  parties  are  entitled  to  separate  and  differ- 
ent portions  of  the  claim,  each  party  may  pay  for 
his  portion  of  the  claim,  with  the  proper  fees,  and 
file  the  certificate  and  description  by  the  surveyor- 
general,  whereupon  the  register  shall  certify  the 
proceedings  and  judgment-roll  to  the  Commissioner 
of  the  General  Land  Office,  as  in  the  preceding 
case,  and  patents  shalllssue  to  the  several  parties 
according  to  their  respective  rights.  Nothing 
herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  the 
alienation  of  the  title  conveyed  by  a  patent  for  a 
mining  claim  to  any  person  whatever. 

Description  of  Vein  Claims. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  8,  v.  17,  p.  94. 

Sec.  2327.  The  description  of  vein  or  lode  claims, 
upon  surveyed  lands,  shall  designate  the  location 
of  the  claim  with  reference  to  the  lines  of  the  pub- 
lic surveys,  but  need  not  conform  therewith ;  but 


PLACER  CLAIMS.  l*l 

where  a  patent  shall  be  issued  for  claims  upon 
unsurveyed  lands,  the  surveyor-general,  in  ex- 
tending the  surveys,  shall  adjust  the  same  to  the 
boundaries  of  such  patented  claim,  according  to 
the  plat  or  description  thereof,  but  so  as  in  no 
case  to  interfere  with  or  change  the  location  of 
any  such  patented  claim. 

Pending-  Applications— Existing  Bights. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.9,  v.  17,  p.  94. 

Sec.  2328.  Applications  for  patents  for  mining 
claims  under  former  laws  now  pending  may  be 
prosecuted  to  a  final  decision  in  the  General  Land 
Office  ;  but  in  such  cases,  where  adverse  rights  are 
not  affected-  thereby,  patents  may  issue  in  pursu- 
ance of  the  provisions  of  this  chapter ;  and  all 
patents  for  mining  claims  upon  veins  or  lodes 
heretofore  issued  shall  convey  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  conferred  by  this  chapter  where  no 
adverse  rights  existed  on  the  tenth  day  of  May, 
eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two. 

Conformity  of  Placer  Claims  to  Surveys,  limit  of. 

9  July,  1870,  c.  235,  s.  12,  v.  16,  p.  217. 

Sec.  2329.  Claims  usually  called  "placers,"  in- 
cluding all  forms  of  deposit,  excepting  veins  of 
quartz  or  other  rock  in  place,  shall  be  subject  to 
entry  and  patent,  under  like  circumstances  and 
conditions,  and  upon  similar  proceedings,  as  are 
provided  for  vein  or  lode  claims  ;  but  where  the 


j  j  2  SUBDIVISIONS. 

lands  have  been  previously  surveyed  by  the  United 
States,  the  entry  in  its  exterior  limits  shall  conform 
to  the  legal  subdivisions  of  the  public  lands. 

Subdivisions  of  Ten-acre  Tracts. 

9  July>  J87o,  c.  235,  s.  12,  v.  16,  p.  217. 

Sec.  2330.  Legal  subdivisions  of  forty  acres  may 
be  subdivided  into  ten-acre  tracts;  and  two  or 
more  persons,  or  associations  of  persons,  having 
contiguous  claims  of  any  size,  although  such'claims 
may  be  less  than  ten  acres  each,  may  make  joint 
entry  thereof;  but  no  location  of  a  placer«claim, 
made  after  the  ninth  day  of  July,  eighteen  hundred 
and  seventy,  shall  exceed  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  for  any  one  person  or  association  of  persons, 
which  location  shall  conform  to  the  United  States 
surveys ;  and  nothing  in  this  section  contained 
shall  defeat  or  impair  any  bona  fide  pre-emption 
or  homestead  claim  upon  agricultural  lands,  or 
authorize  the  sale  of  the  improvements  of  any 
bona  fide  settler  to  any  purchaser. 

Conformity  of  Placer  Claims  to  Surreys. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  10,  v.  17,  p.  94. 

Sec.  2331.  Where  placer  claims  are  upon  sur- 
veyed lands,  and  conform  to  legal  subdivisions,  no 
further  survey  or  plat  shall  be  required,  and  all 
placer-mining  claims  located  after  the  tenth  day  of 
May,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two,  shall  con- 
form as  near  as  practicable  with  the  United  States 
system  of  public-land  surveys,  and  the  rectangular 


POSSESSION.  j.- 

subdivisions  of  such  surveys,  and  no  such  location 
shall  include  more  than  twenty  acres  for  each  indi- 
vidual claimant ;  but  where  placer  claims  cannot 
be  conformed  to  legal  subdivisions,  survey  and 
plat  shall  be  made  as  on  unsurveyed  lands ;  and 
where  by  the  segregation  of  mineral  lands  in  any 
legal  subdivision  a  quantity  of  agricultural  land 
less  than  forty  acres  remains,  such  fractional  por- 
tion of  agricultural  land  may  be  entered,  by  any 
party  qualified  by  law,  for  homestead  or  pre-emp- 
tion purposes. 

Evidence  of  Possession. 

9  July,  1870,  c.  235,  s.  13,  v.  16,  p.  217. 

Sec.  2332.  Where  such  person  or  association, 
they  and  their  grantors,  have  held  and  worked 
their  claims  for  a  period  equal  to  the  time  pre- 
scribed by  the  statute  ok  limitations  for  mining 
claims  of  the  State  or  Territory  where  the  same 
may  be  situated,  evidence  of  such  possession  and 
working  of  the  claims  for  such  period  shall  be 
sufficient  to  establish  a  right  to  a  patent  thereto 
under  this  chapter,  in  the  absence  of  any  adverse 
claim  ;  but  nothing  in  this  chapter  shall  be  deemed 
to  impair  any  lien  which  may  have  attached  in  any 
way  whatever  to  any  mining  claim  or  property 
thereto  attached  prior  to  the  issuance  of  a  patent. 

Proceedings  for  Patent  for  Placer  Claim,  etc. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  11,  v.  17,  p.  94. 

Sec.  2333.  Where  the  same  person,  association 
or  corporation  is  in  possession  of  a  placer  claim, 


j  .4  SURVE  YOR 

and  also  a  vein  or  lode  included  within  the  boun- 
daries thereof,  application  shall  be  made  for  a 
patent  for  the  placer  claim,  with  the  statement  that 
it  includes  such  vein  or  lode,  and  in  such  case  a 
patent  shall  issue  for  the  placer  claim,  subject  to 
the  provisions  of  this  chapter,  including  such  vein 
or  lode,  upon  the  payment  of  five  dollars  per  acre 
for  such  vein  or  lode  claim,  and  twenty-five  feet  of 
surface  on-  each  side  thereof.  The  remainder  of 
the  placer  claim,  or  any  placer  claim  not  embracing 
any*vein  or  lode  claim,  shall  be  paid  for  at  the 
rate  of  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre,  together 
with  all  costs  of  proceedings  ;  and  where  a  vein  or 
lode,  such  as  is  described  in  section  twenty-three 
hundred  and  twenty,  is  known  to  exist  within  the 
boundaries  of  a  placer  claim,  an  application  for  a 
patent  for  such  placer  claim  which  does  not  include 
an  application  for  the  vein  or  lode  claim  shall  be 
construed  as  a  conclusive  declaration  that  the 
claimant  of  the  placer  claim  has  no  right  of  pos- 
session of  the*  vein  or  lode  claim ;  but  where  the 
existence  of  a  vein  or  lode  in  a  placer  claim  is  not 
known,  a  patent  for  the  placer  claim  shall  convey 
all  valuable  mineral  and  other  deposits  within  the 
boundaries  thereof. 

Surveyors  of  Mining  Claims. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  12,  v.  17,  p.  95. 

Sec.  2334.  The  Surveyor-General  of  the  United 
States  may  appoint  in  each  land  district  containing 
mineral  lands  as  many  competent  surveyors  as 


AFFIDAVITS.  j  ** 

shall  apply  for  appointment  to  survey  mining 
claims.  The  expenses  of  the  survey  of  vein  or 
lode  claims,  and  the  survey  and  subdivision  of 
placer  claims  into  smaller  quantities  than  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  together  with  the  cost  of 
publication  of  notices,  shall  be  paid  by  the  appli- 
cants, and  they  shall  be  at  liberty  to  obtain  the  same 
at  the  most  reasonable  rates,  and  they  shall  also 
be  at  liberty  to  employ  any  United  States  deputy 
surveyor  to  make  the  survey.  The  Commissioner 
of  the  General  Land  Office  shall  also  have  power 
to  establish  the  maximum  charges  for  surveys  and 
publication  of  notices  under  this  chapter ;  and,  in 
case  of  excessive  charges  for  publication,  he  may 
designate  any  newspaper  published  in  a  land 
district 'where  mines  are  situated  for  the  publica- 
tion of  mining  notices  in  such  district,  and  fix  the 
rates  to  be  charged  by  such  paper ;  and,  to  the  end 
that  the  Commissioner  may  be  fully  informed  on  the 
subject,  each  applicant  shall  file  with  the  register 
a  sworn  statement  of  all  charges  and  fees  paid  by 
such  applicant  for  publication  and  surveys,  together 
with  all  fees  and  money  paid  the  register  and  the 
receiver  of  the  land  office,  which  statement  shall 
be  transmitted,  with  the  other  papers  in  the  case, 
to  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office. 

Teriflcation  of  Affidavits. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  13,  v.  17,  p.  95. 

Sec.  2335.  All  affidavits  required  to  be  made 
under  this  chapter  may  be  verified  before  any  offi- 


146 


INTER SE  CTIONS. 


cer  authorized  to  administer  oaths  within  the  land 
district  where  the  claims  may  be  situated,  and  all 
testimony  and  proofs  may  be  taken  before  any 
such  officer,  and,  when  duly  certified  by  the  officer 
taking  the  same,  shall  have  the  same  force  and 
effect  as  if  taken  before  the  register  and  receiver 
of  the  land  office.  In  cases  of  contest  as  to  the 
mineral  or  agricultural  character  of  land,  the  testi- 
mony and  proofs  may  be  taken  as  herein  provided 
on  personal  notice  of  at  least  ten  days  to  the  op- 
posing party;  or  if  such  party  cannot  be  found, 
then  by  publication  of  at  least  once  a  week  for 
thirty  days  in  a  newspaper,  to  be  designated  by 
the  register  of  the  land  office  as  published  nearest 
to  the  location  of  such  land ;  and  the  register  shall 
require  proof  that  such  notice  has  been  given. 

Where  Teins  Intersect. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  14,  v.  17,  p.  96. 

Sec.  2336.  Where  two  or  more  veins  intersect 
or  cross  each  other,  priority  of  title  shall  govern, 
and  such  prior  location  shall  be  entitled  to  all  ore 
or  mineral  contained  within  the  space  of  intersec- 
tion ;  but  the  subsequent  location  shall  have  the 
right  of  way  through  the  space  of  intersection  for 
the  purposes  of  the  convenient  working  of  the 
mine.  And  where  two  or  more  veins  unite,  the 
oldest  or  prior  location  shall  take  the  vein  below 
the  point  of  union,  including  all  the  space  of  in- 
tersection. 


RULES  FOR  SELLING.  j  * y 

Patents  for  Non -Mineral  Lands. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  15,  v.  17,  p.  96. 

Sec.  2337.  Where  non-mineral  land  not  con- 
tiguous to  the  vein  or  lode  is  used  or  occupied  by 
the  proprietor  of  such  vein  or  lode  for  mining  or 
milling  purposes,  such  non-adjacent  surface-ground 
may  be  embraced  and  included  in  an  application 
.for  a  patent  for  such  vein  or  lode,  and  the  same 
may  be  patented  therewith,  subject  to  the  same 
preliminary  requirements  as  to  survey  and  notice 
as  are  applicable  to  veins  or  lodes ;  but  no  loca- 
tion hereafter  made  of  such  non-adjacent  land 
shall  exceed  five  acres,  and  payment  for  the  same 
must  be  made  at  the  same  rate  as  fixed  by  this 
chapter  for  the  superficies  of  the  lode.  The  owner 
of  a  quartz-mill  or  reduction-works,  not  owning  a 
mine  in  connection  therewith,  may  also  receive  a 
a  patent  for  his  mill-site,  as  provided  in  this 
section. 

Conditions  of  Sale. 

26  July,  1866,  c.  262,  s.  5,  v.  14,  p.  252. 

Sec.  2338.  As  a  condition  of  sale,  in  the  absence 
of  necessary  legislation  by  Congress,  the  local  leg- 
islature of  any  State  or  Territory  may  provide 
rules  for  working  mines,  involving  easements, 
drainage,  and  other  necessary  means  to  their  com- 
plete development ;  and  those  conditions  shall  be 
fully  expressed  in  the  patent. 


148 


WA  TER- RIGHTS. 


Rights  to  Use  of  Water. 

26  July,  1866,  c.  262,  s.  9,  v.  14,  p.  253. 

Sec.  2339.  Whenever,  by  priority  of  possession, 
rights  to  the  use  of  water  for  mining,  agricultural, 
manufacturing  or  other  purposes,  have  vested  and 
accrued,  and  the  same  are  recognized  and  ac- 
knowledged by  the  local  customs,  laws  and  the  de- 
cisions of  courts,  the  possessors  and  owners  of  such 
vested  rights  shall  be  maintained  and  protected  in 
the  same  ;  and  the  right  of  way  for  the  construc- 
tion of  ditches  and  canals  for  the  purposes  herein 
specified  is  acknowledged  and  confirmed ;  but 
whenever  any  person,  in  the  construction  of  any 
ditch  or  canal,  injures  or  damages  the  possession 
of  any  settler  on  the  public  domain,  the  party  com- 
mitting such  injury  or  damage  shall  be  liable  to 
the  party  injured  for  such  injury  or  damage. 

Water-rights. 

9  July,  1870,  c.  235,  s.  17,  v.  16,  p.  218. 

Sec.  2340.  All  patents  granted,  or  pre-emption 
or  homesteads  allowed,  shall  be  subject  to  any 
vested  and  accrued  water- rights,  or  rights  to 
ditches  and  reservoirs  used  in  connection  with 
such  water-rights,  as  may  have  been  acquired 
under  or  recognized  by  the  preceding  section. 

Mineral  Lands  Open  to  Homesteads. 

26  July,  1866,  c.  262,  s.  10,  v.  14,  p.  253. 

Sec.  2341.  Wherever,  upon  the  lands  heretofore 
designated  as  mineral  lands,  which  have  been  ex- 


HOMES  TEADS.  j  *g 

eluded  from  survey  and  sale,  there  have  been 
homesteads  made  by  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
or  persons  who  have  declared  their  intention  to 
.become  citizens,  which  homesteads  have  been 
made,  improved  and  used  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses, and  upon  which  there  have  been  no  valu- 
able mines  of  gold,  silver,  cinnabar  or  copper  dis- 
covered, and  which  are  properly  agricultural  lands, 
the  settlers  or  owners  of  such  homesteads  shall 
have  a  right  of  pre-emption  thereto,  and  shall  be 
entitled  to  purchase  the  same  at  the  price  of  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre,  and  in  quan- 
tity not  to  exceed  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres ;  or 
they  may  avail  themselves  of  the  provisions  of 
chapter  five  of  this  title,  relating  to  "Homesteads." 

Mineral  Lands  how  set  apart  as  Agricultural  Lands. 

26  July,  1866,  c.  262,  s.  11,  v.  14,  p.  253. 

Sec.  2342.  Upon  the  survey  of  the  lands  de- 
scribed in  the  preceding  section,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  may  designate  and  set  apart  such  por- 
tions of  the  same  as  are  clearly  agricultural  lands, 
which  lands  shall  thereafter  be  subject  to  pre-emp- 
tion and  sale  as  other  public  lands,  and  be  subject 
to  all  the  laws  and  regulations  applicable  to  the 
same. 

Additional  Land  Districts  and  Officers,  etc. 

26  July,  1866,  c.  262,  s.  7,  v.  14,  p.  252. 

Sec.  2343.  The  President  is  authorized  to  estab- 
lish additional  land  districts,  and  to  appoint  the 
9 


j  j-  0  EXCEP  TIONS. 

necessary  officers  under  existing  laws,  wherever 
he  may  deem  the  same  necessary  for  the  public 
convenience  in  executing  the  provisions  of  this 
chapter. 

Provisions  of  this  Chapter  not  to  Affect  Certain  Rights. 

10  May,  1872,  c.  152,  s.  16,  y.  17,  p.  96.    9  July,  1870,  c.  235,  s.  17,  v.  16,  p.  218. 

Sec.  2344.  Nothing  contained  in  this  chapter 
shall  be  construed  to  impair,  in  any  way,  rights  or 
interests  in  mining  property  acquired  under  exist- 
ing laws ;  nor  to  affect  the  provisions  of  the  act 
entitled  "An  act  granting  to  A.  Sutro  the  right  of 
way  and  other  privileges  to  aid  in  the  construction 
of  a  draining  and  exploring  tunnel  to  the  Corn- 
stock  Lode,  in  the  State  of  Nevada,"  approved  July 
twenty-five,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-six. 

Mineral  Lands  in  Certain  States  Excepted. 

-8  Feb.,  1873,  c.  159,  v.  17,  p.  465. 

Sec.  2345.  The  provisions  of  the  preceding  sec- 
tions of  this  chapter  shall  not  apply  to  the  mineral 
lands  situated  in  the  States  of  Michigan,  Wiscon- 
sin and  Minnesota,  which  are  declared  free  and 
open  to  exploration  and  purchase,  according  to 
legal  subdivisions,  in  like  manner  as  before  the 
tenth  day  of  May,  eighteen  hundred  and  seventy- 
two.  And  any  bona  fide  entries  of  such  lands 
within  the  States  named  since  the  tenth  of  May, 
eighteen  hundred  and  seventy-two,  may  be  pat- 
ented without  reference  to  any  of  the  foregoing 


GENERAL  LAND  OFFICE.  j  r  I 

provisions  of  this  chapter.  Such  lands  shall  be 
offered  for  public  sale  in  the  same  manner,  at  the 
same  minimum  price,  and  under  the  same  rights 
of  pre-emption  as  other  public  lands. 

Grants  of  Lands  to  States  and  Corporations,  etc. 

30  January,  1865,  Res.  No.  10,  v.  13,  p.  567. 

Sec.  2346.  No  act  passed  at  the  first  session  of 
the  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  granting  lands  to 
States  or  corporations  to  aid  in  the  construction 
of  roads,  or  for  other  purposes,  or  to  extend  the 
time  of  grants  made  prior  to  the  thirtieth  day  of 
January,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-five,  shall  be 
so  construed  as  to  embrace  mineral  lands,  which 
in  all  cases  are  reserved  exclusively  to  the  United 
States,  unless  otherwise  specially  provided  in  the 
act  or  acts  making  the  grant. 

REGULATIONS  OF  THE  GENERAL  LAND  OFFICE  UNDER 
THE  LAWS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Mineral  Lands  Open  to  Exploration,  Occupation  and  Purchase. 

i.  It  will  be  perceived  that,  by  the  foregoing 
provisions  of  law,  the  mineral  lands  in  the  public 
domain,  surveyed  or  unsurveyed,  are  open  to  ex- 
ploration, occupation  and  purchase  by  all  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  and  all  those  who  have  de- 
clared their  intention  to  become  such. 

Status  of  Lode  Claims  Located  Prior  to  May  10th,  1872. 

2.  By  an  examination  of  the  several  sections  of 
the  Revised  Statues,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  status 


je-2  SPFCTAL   RIGHTS. 

of  lode  claims  located  previous  to  the  ioth  of  May, 
1872,  is  not  changed  with  regard  to  their  extent 
along  the  lode  or  width  of  surface,  such  claims  being 
restricted  and  governed  both  as  to  their  lateral 
and  linear  extent  by  the  State,  Territorial  or  local 
laws,  customs  or  regulations  which  were  in  force 
in  the  respective  districts  at  the  date  of  such 
locations. 

3.  Mining  rights  acquired  under  such  previous 
locations  are,  however,  enlarged  by  said  Revised 
Statutes  in  the  following  respect,  viz. :  The  locators 
of  all  such  previously-taken  veins  or  lodes,  their 
heirs  and  assigns,  so  long  as  they  comply  with  the 
laws  of  Congress  and  with  State,  Territorial  or 
Jocal  regulations  not  in  conflict  therewith,  govern- 
ing mining  claims,  are  invested  with  the  exclusive 
possessory  right  of  all  the  surface  included  within 
the  lines  of  their  locations,  and  of  all  veins,  lodes 
or  ledges  throughout  their  entire  depth,  the  top  or 
apex  of  which  lies  inside  of  such  surface-lines  ex- 
tended downward  vertically,  although  such  veins, 
lodes  or  ledges  may  so  far  depart  from  a  perpen- 
dicular in  their  course  downward  as  to  extend  out- 
side the  vertical  side-lines  of  such  locations  at  the 
surface  ;  it  being  expressly  provided,  however,  that 
the  right  of  possession  to  such  outside  parts  of 
said  veins  or  ledges  shall  be  confined  to  such  por- 
tions thereof  as  lie  between  vertical  planes  drawn 
downward  as  aforesaid,  through  the  end-lines  of 
their  locations  so  continued  in  their  own  direction 


ANNUAL  EXPENDITURE.  j  -  - 

that  such  planes  will  intersect  such  exterior  parts 
of  such  veins,  lodes  or  ledges ;  no  right  being 
granted,  however,  to  the  claimant  of  such  outside 
portion  of  a  vein  or  ledge  to  enter  upon  the  sur- 
face location  of  another  claimant. 

4.  It  is  to  be  distinctly  understood,  however, 
that  the  law  limits  the  possessory  right  to  veins, 
lodes  or  ledges  other  than  the  one  named  in  the 
original  location,  to  such  as  were  not  adversely 
claimed  on  May  10th,  1872,  and  that  where  such 
other  vein  or  ledge  was  so  adversely  claimed  at 
that  date,  the  right  of  the  party  so  adversely 
claiming  is  in  no  way  impaired  by  the  provisions 
of  the  Revised  Statues. 

5.  In  order  to  hold  the  possessory  title  to  a 
mining  claim  located  prior  to  May  10th,  1872,  and 
for  which  a  patent  has  not  been  issued,  the  law  re- 
quires that  ten  dollars  shall  be  expended  annually 
in  labor  or  improvements  on  each  claim  of  one 
hundred  feet  on  the  course  of  the  vein  or  lode 
until  a  patent  shall  have  been  issued  therefor ;  but 
where  a  number  of  such  claims  are  held  in  com- 
mon upon  the  same  vein  or  lode,  the  aggregate 
expenditure  that  would  be  necessary  to  hold  all 
the  claims,  at  the  rate  of  ten  dollars  per  hundred 
feet,  may  be  made  upon  any  one  claim  ;  a  failure 
to  comply  with  this  requirement  in  any  one  year 
subjecting  the  claim  upon  which  such  failure  oc- 
curred to  relocation  by  other  parties,  the  same  as 
if  no    previous    location  thereof  had    ever   been 


j  ?A  CONDITIONS  OF  FORFEITURE. 

made,  unless  the  claimants  under  the  original  lo- 
cation shall  have  resumed  work  thereon  after  such 
failure  and  before  such  relocation.  The  first  an- 
nual expenditure  upon  claims  of  this  class  should 
have  been  performed  subsequent  to  May  ioth, 
1872,  and  prior  to  January  1st,  1875.  From  and 
after  January  1st,  1875,  the  required  amount  must 
be  expended  annually  until  patent  issues. 

6.  Upon  the  failure  of  any  one  of  several  co- 
owners  of  a  vein,  lode  or  ledge,  which  has  not 
been  patented,  to  contribute  his  proportion  of  the 
expenditures  necessary  to  hold  the  claim  or  claims 
so  held  in  ownership  in  common,  the  co-owners 
who  have  performed  the  labor,  or  made  the  im- 
provements as  required  by  said  Revised  Statutes, 
may,  at  the  expiration  of  the  year,  give  such  delin- 
quent co-owner  personal  notice  in  writing,  or 
notice  by  publication  in  the  newspaper  published 
nearest  the  claim,  for  at  least  once  a  week  for 
ninety  days ;  and  if  upon  the  expiration  of  ninety 
days  after  such  notice  in  writing,  or  upon  the  ex- 
piration of  one  hundred  and  eighty  days  after  the 
first  newspaper  publication  of  notice,  the  delin- 
quent co-owner  shall  have  failed  to  contribute  his 
proportion  to  meet  such  expenditure  or  improve- 
ments, his  interest  in  the  claim  by  law  passes  to 
his  co-owners,  who  have  made  the  expenditures  or 
improvements  as  aforesaid. 


ENLARGED  RIGHTS.  jcc 


Patents  for  Teins  or  Lodes  Heretofore  Issued. 

7.  Rights  under  patents  for  veins  or  lodes  here- 
tofore granted  under  previous  legislation  of  Con- 
gress are  enlarged  by  the  Revised  Statutes,  so  as 
to  invest  the  patentee,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  with 
title  to  all  veins,  lodes  or  ledges,  throughout  their 
entire  depth,  the  top  or  apex  of  which  lies  within 
the  end  and  side  boundary-lines  of  his  claim  on 
the  surface,  as  patented,  extended  down  vertically, 
although  such  veins,  lodes  or  ledges  may  so  far 
depart  from  a  perpendicular  in  their  course  down- 
ward as  to  extend  outside  the  vertical  side-lines  of 
the  claim  at  the  surface.  The  right  of  possession 
to  such  outside  parts  of  such  veins  or  ledges  to  be 
confined  to  such  portions  thereof  as  lie  between 
vertical  planes  drawn  downward  through  the  end- 
lines  of  the  claim  at  the  surface,  so  continued  in 
their  own  direction  that  such  planes  will  intersect 
such  exterior  parts  of  such  veins  or  ledges ;  it 
being  expressly  provided,  however,  that  all  veins, 
lodes  or  ledges,  the  top  or  apex  of  which  lies  in- 
side such  surface  locations,  other  than  the  one 
named  in  the  patent,  which  were  adversely  claimed 
on  the  10th  May,  1872,  are  excluded  from  such 
conveyance  by  patent. 

8.  Applications  for  patents  for  mining  claims 
pending  at  the  date  of  the  act  of  May  10th,  1872, 
may  be  prosecuted  to  final  decision  in  the  General 
Land  Office,  and  where  no  adverse  rights  are  af- 


156 


LIMITA  TIONS. 


fected  thereby,  patents  will  be  issued,  in  pursuance 
of  the  provisions  of  the  Revised  Statutes. 

Manner  of  Locating  Claims  on  Veins  or  Lodes  after  May  10, 1872, 

9.  From  and  after  the  10th  May,  1872,  any  per- 
son who  is  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  who 
has  declared  his  intention  to  become  a  citizen,  may 
locate,  record  and  hold  a  mining  claim  of  fifteen 
hundred  linear  feet  along  the  course  of  any  mineral 
vein  or  lode  subject  to  location  ;  or  an  association 
of  persons,  severally  qualified  as  above,  may  make 
joint  location  of  such  claim  of  fifteen  hundred  feet, 
but  in  no  event  can  a  location  of  a  vein  or  lode 
made  subsequent  to  May  10th,  1872,  exceed  fifteen 
hundred  feet  along  the  course  thereof,  whatever 
may  be  the  number  of  persons  composing  the 
association. 

10.  With  regard  to  the  extent  of  surface-ground 
adjoining  a  vein  or  lode,  and  claimed  for  the  con- 
venient working  thereof,  the  Revised  Statutes  pro- 
vide that  the  lateral  extent  of  locations  of  veins  or 
lodes  made  after  May  10th,  1872,  shall  in  no  case 
exceed  three  hundred  feet  on  each  side  of  the  middle 
of  the  vein  at  the  siuface,  and- that  no  such  surface- 
rights  shall  be  limited  by  any  mining  regulations 
to  less  than  twenty-five  feet  on  each  side  of  the 
middle  of  the  vein  at  the  surface,  except  where 
adverse  rights  existing  on  the  10th  May,  1872, 
may  render  such  limitation   necessary,  the  end- 


MINERS'  PRIVILEGES.  j -* 

lines  of  such  claims  to  be  in  all  cases  parallel  to 
each  other. 

1 1 .  By  the  foregoing  it  will  be  perceived  that 
no  lode  claim  located  after  the  ioth  May,  1872, 
can  exceed  a  parallelogram  fifteen  hundred  feet 
in  length  by  six  hundred  feet  in  width,  but  whether 
surface-ground  of  that  width  can  be  taken,  depends 
upon  the  local  regulations  or  State  or  territorial 
laws  in  force  in  the  several  mining  districts ;  and 
that  no  such  local  regulations  or  State  or  territo- 
rial laws  shall  limit  a  vein  or  lode  claim  to  less 
than  fifteen  hundred  feet  along  the  course  thereof, 
whether  the  location  is  made  by  one  or  more  per- 
sons, nor  can  surface- rights  be  limited  to  less  than 
fifty  feet  in  width,  unless  adverse  claims  existing 
on  the  ioth  day  of  May,  1872,  render  such  lateral 
limitation  necessary. 

12.  It  is  provided  by  the  Revised  Statutes  that 
the  miners  of  each  district  may  make  rules  and 
regulations  not  in  conflict  with  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  the  State  or  Territory  in  which 
such  districts  are  respectively  situated,  governing 
the  location,  manner  of  recording  and  amount  of 
work  necessary  to  hold  possession  of  a  claim. 
They  likewise  require  that  the  location  shall  be  so 
distinctly  marked  on  the  ground  that  its  bounda- 
ries may  be  readily  traced.  This  is  a  very  im- 
portant matter,  and  locators  cannot  exercise  too 
much  care  in  defining  their  locations  at  the  outset, 


i58 


BOUNDARIES. 


inasmuch  as  the  law  requires  that  all  records  of 
mining  locations  made  subsequent  to  May  ioth, 
1872,  shall  contain  the  name  or  names  of  the  lo- 
cators, the  date  of  the  location,  and  such  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  claim  or  claims  located,  by  reference  to 
some  natural  object  or  permanent  monument,  as 
will  identify  the  claim. 

1 3.  The  statutes  provide  that  no  lode  claim  shall 
be  recorded  until  after  the  discovery  of  a  vein  or 
lode  within  the  limits  of  the  ground  claimed;  the 
object  of  which  provision  is  evidently  to  prevent 
the  encumbering  of  the  district  mining  records 
with  useless  locations  before  sufficient  work  has 
been  done  thereon  to  determine  whether  a  vein  or 
lode  has  really  been  discovered  or  not. 

14.  The  claimant  should  therefore,  prior  to  re- 
cording his  claim,  unless  the  vein  can  be  traced 
upon  the  surface,  sink  a  shaft,  or  run  a  tunnel  or 
drift,  to  a  sufficient  depth  therein  to  discover  and 
develop  a  mineral-bearing  vein,  lode  or  crevice ; 
should  determine,  if  possible,  the  general  course  of 
such  vein  in  either  direction  from  the  point  of  dis- 
covery, by  which  direction  he  will  be  governed  in 
marking  the  boundaries  of  his  claim  on  the  surface, 
and  should  give  the  course  and  distance  as  nearly 
as  practicable  from  the  discovery-shaft  on  the  claim, 
to  some  permanent,  well-known  points  or  objects, 
such,  for  instance,  as  stone  monuments,  blazed 
trees,  the  confluence  of  streams,  point  of  inter- 


ADJOINING  CLAIMS.  j  eg 

section  of  well-known  gulches,  ravines  or  roads, 
prominent  buttes,  hills,  etc.,  which  may  be  in  the 
immediate  vicinity,  and  which  will  serve  to  per- 
petuate and  fix  the  locus  of  the  claim  and  render 
it  susceptible  of  identification  from  the  description 
thereof  given  in  the  record  of  locations  in  the 
district. 

15.  In  addition  to  the  foregoing  data,  the  claim- 
ant should  state  the  names  of  adjoining  claims,  or, 
if  none  adjoin,  the  relative  positions  of  the  nearest 
claims ;  should  drive  a  post  or  erect  a  monument 
of  stones  at  each  corner  of  his  surface-ground,  and 
at  the  point  of  discovery  or  discovery-shaft  should 
fix  a  post,  stake  or  board,  upon  which  should  be 
designated  the  name  of  the  lode,  the  name  or  names 
of  the  locators,  the  number  of  feet  claimed,  and  in 
which  direction  from  the  point  of  discovery;  it 
being  essential  that  the  location  notice  filed  for 
record,  in  addition  to  the  foregoing  description, 
should  state  whether  the  entire  claim  of  fifteen 
hundred  feet  is  taken  on  one  side  of  the  point  of 
discovery,  or  whether  it  is  partly  upon  one  and 
partly  upon  the  other  side  thereof,  and  in  the  lat- 

|ter  case,  how  many  feet  are  claimed  upon  each 
side  of  such  discovery-point. 

1 6.  Within  a  reasonable  time,  say  twenty  days, 
I  after  the  location  shall  have  been  marked  on  the 

ground,  notice  thereof,  accurately  describing  the 
claim  in  manner  aforesaid,  should  be  filed  for 
record  with   the  proper  recorder  of  the  district, 


j5q  requisite  work. 

who  will  thereupon  issue  the  usual  certificate  of 
location. 

1 7.  In  order  to  hold  the  possessory  right  to  a 
location  made  since  May  10th,  1872,  not  less  than 
one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  labor  must  be  per- 
formed, or  improvements  made  thereon,  within  one 
year  from  the  date  of  such  location,  and  annually 
thereafter ;  in  default  of  which  the  claim  will  be 
subject  to  relocation  by  any  other  party  having 
the  necessary  qualifications,  unless  the  original 
locator,  his  heirs,  assigns,  or  legal  representatives, 
have  resumed  work  thereon  after  such  failure  and 
before  such  relocation. 

18.  The  expenditures  required  upon  mining 
claims  maybe  made  from  the  surface  or  in  running 
a  tunnel  for  the  development  of  such  claims,  the 
act  of  February  nth,  1875,  providing  that  where  a 
person  or  company  has,  or  may,  run  a  tunnel  for 
the  purpose  of  developing  a  lode  or  lodes  owned 
by  said  person  or  company,  the  money  so  expended 
in  said  tunnel  shall  be  taken  and  considered  as 
expended  on  said  lode  or  lodes,  and  such  person 
or  company  shall  not  be  required  to  perform  work 
on  the  surface  of  said  lode  or  lodes  in  order  to 
hold  the  same. 

19.  The  importance  of  attending  to  these  details 
in  the  matter  of  location,  labor  and  expenditure 
will  be  the  more  readily  perceived  when  it  is  un- 
derstood that  a  failure  to  give  the  subject  proper 
attention  may  invalidate  the  claim. 


FURTHER  RIGHTS. 


161 


20.  Section  2323  provides  that  where  a  tunnel 
is  run  for  the  development  of  a  vein  or  lode,  or 
for  the  discovery  of  mines,  the  owners  of  such 
tunnel  shall  have  the  right  of  possession  of  all  veins 
or  lodes  within  three  thousand  feet  from  the  face 
of  such  tunnel  on  the  line  thereof,  not  previously 
known  to  exist,  discovered  in  such  tunnel,  to  the 
same  extent  as  if  discovered  from  the  surface  ;  and 
locations  on  the  line  of  such  tunnel  of  veins  or 
lodes  not  appearing  on  the  surface,  made  by  other 
parties  after  the  commencement  of  the  tunnel,  and 
while  the  same  is  being  prosecuted  with  reasonable 
diligence,  shall  be  invalid,  but  failure  to  prosecute 
the  work  on  the  tunnel  for  six  months  shall  be 
considered  as  an  abandonment  of  the  right  to  all 
undiscovered  veins  or  lodes  on  the  line  of  said 
tunnel. 

2 1 .  The  effect  of  this  is  simply  to  give  the  pro- 
prietors of  a  mining  tunnel  run  in  good  faith  the 
possessory  right  to  fifteen  hundred  feet  of  any 
blind  lodes  cut,  discovered  or  intersected  by  such 
tunnel,  which  were  not  previously  known  to#exist, 
within  three  thousand  feet  from  the  face  or  point 
of  commencement  of  such  tunnel,  and  to  prohibit 
other  parties,  after  the  commencement  of  the  tun- 
nel, from  prospecting  for  and  making  locations  of 
lodes  on  the  line  thereof  and  within  said  distance  of 
three  thousand  feet,  unless  such  lodes  appear  upon 
the  surface  or  were  previously  known  to  exist. 


j  (3  2  N0  TICE  RE  Q  UIRED% 

22.  The  term  "face,"  as  used  in  said  section,  is 
construed  and  held  to  mean  the  first  working-face 
formed  in  the  tunnel,  and  to  signify  the  point  at 
which  the  tunnel  actually  enters  cover,  it  being 
from  this  point  that  the  three  thousand  feet  are  to 
be  counted,  upon  which  prospecting  is  prohibited 
as  aforesaid. 

23.  To  avail  themselves  of  the  benefits  of  this 
provision  of  law,  the  proprietors  of  a  mining  tun- 
nel will  be  required,  at  the  time  they  enter  cover 
as  aforesaid,  to  give  proper  notice  of  their  tunnel 
location,  by  erecting  a  substantial  post,  board  or 
monument  at  the  face  or  point  of  commencement 
thereof,  upon  which  should  be  posted  a  good  and 
sufficient  notice,  giving  the  names  of  the  parties  or 
company  claiming  the  tunnel  right ;  the  actual  or 
proposed  course  or  direction  of  the  tunnel ;  the 
height  and  width  thereof,  and  the  course  and  dis- 
tance from  such  face  or  point  of  commencement  to 
some  permanent  well-known  objects  in  the  vicinity 
by  which  to  fix  and  determine  the  locus  in  manner 
heretofore  set  forth  applicable  to  locations  of  veins 
or  lodes,  and  at  the  time  of  posting  such  notice 
they  shall,  in  order  that  miners  or  prospectors  may 
by  enabled  to  determine  whether  or  not  they  are 
within  the  lines  of  the  tunnel,  establish  the  boundary 
lines  thereof  by  stakes  or  monuments  placed  along 
such  lines  at  proper  intervals,  to  the  terminus  of 
the  three  thousand  feet  from  the  face  or  point  of 
commencement  of   the  tunnel,  and    the   lines  so 


RECORDING  NOTICE.  jft*, 

marked  will  define  and  govern  as  to  the  specific 
boundaries  within  which  prospecting  for  lodes  not 
previously  known  to  exist  is  prohibited  while  work 
on  the  tunnel  is  being  prosecuted  with  reasonable 
diligence. 

24.  At  the  time  of  posting  notice  and  marking 
out  the  lines  of  the  tunnel  as  aforesaid,  a  full  and 
correct  copy  of  such  notice  of  location  defining  the 
tunnel  claim  must  be  filed  for  record  with  the 
mining  recorder  of  the  district,  to  which  notice 
must  be  attached  the  sworn  statement  or  declara- 
tion of  the  owners,  claimants  or  projectors  of  such 
tunnel,  setting  forth  the  facts  in  the  case ;  stating 
the  amount  expended  by  themselves  and  their  pre- 
decessors in  interest  in  prosecuting  work  thereon  ; 
the  extent  of  the  work  performed,  and  that  it  is 
bona  fide  their  intention  to  prosecute  work  on  the 
tunnel  so  located  and  described  with  reasonable 
diligence  for  the  development  of  a  vein  or  lode,  or 
for  the  discovery  of  mines,  or  both,  as  the  case 
may  be. 

This  notice  of  location  must  be  duly  recorded, 
and,  with  the  said  sworn  statement  attached,  kept 
on  the  recorder's  files  for  future  reference. 

25.  By  a  compliance  with  the  foregoing  much 
needless  difficulty  will  be  avoided,  and  the  way  for 
the  adjustment  of  legal  rights  acquired  in  virtue 
of  said  section  2323  will  be  made  much  more  easy 
and  certain. 

26.  This  office  will  take  particular  care  that  no 


1 64 


OBTAINING   TITLE. 


improper  advantage  is  taken  of  this  provision  of 
law  by  parties  making  or  professing  to  make  tun- 
nel locations,  ostensibly  for  the  purposes  named 
in  the  statute,  but  really  for  the  purpose  of  monop- 
olizing the  lands  lying  in  front  of  their  tunnels 
to  the  detriment  of  the  mining  interests  and  to  the 
exclusion  of  bona  fide  prospectors  or  miners;  but 
will  hold  such  tunnel  claimants  to  a  strict  compli- 
ance with  the  terms  of  the  statutes,  and  a  reason- 
able diligence  on  their  part  in  prosecuting  the 
work  is  one  of  the  essential  conditions  of  their  im- 
plied contract,  negligence  or  want  of  due  diligence 
will  be  construed  as  working  a  forfeiture  of  their 
right  to  all  undiscovered  veins  on  the  line  of  such 
tunnel. 

Manner  of  Proceeding"  to  Obtain  Government  Title  to  Vein  or 
Lode  Claims. 

27.  By  section  2325  authority  is  given  for  grant- 
ing titles  for  mines  by  patent  from  the  Govern- 
ment, to  any  person,  association  or  corporation 
having  the  necessary  qualifications  as  to  citizen- 
ship and  holding  the  right  of  possession  to  a  claim 
in  compliance  with  law. 

28.  The  claimant  is  required  in  the  first  place 
to  have  a  correct  survey  of  his  claim  made  under 
the  authority  of  the  surveyor-general  of  the  State 
or  .Territory  in  which  the  claim  lies ;  such  survey 
to  show  with  accuracy  the  exterior  surface  bounda- 
ries of  the  claim,  which  boundaries  are  required  to 


POSTING  PLAT. 


165 


be  distinctly  marked  by  monuments  on  the  ground. 
Four  plats  and  one  copy  of  the  original  field-notes, 
in  each  case,  will  be  prepared  by  the  surveyor- 
general  ;  one  plat  and  the  original  field-notes  to 
be  retained  in  the  office  of  the  surveyor-general 
one  copy  of  the  plat  to  be  given  the  claimant  for 
posting  upon  the  claim,  one  plat  and  a  copy  of  the 
field-notes  to  be  given  the  claimant  for  filing  with 
the  proper  register,  to  be  finally  transmitted  by 
that  officer,  with  the  other  papers  in  the  case,  to 
this  office,  and  one  plat  to  be  sent  by  the  surveyor- 
general  to  the  register  of  the  proper  land  district, 
to  be  retained  on  his  files  for  future  reference. 

29.  The  claimant  is  then  required  to  post  a 
copy  of  the  plat  of  such  survey  in  a  conspicuous 
place  upon  the  claim,  together  with  notice  of  his 
intention  to  apply  for  a  patent  therefor,  which  no- 
tice will  give  the  date  of  posting,  the  name  of  the 
claimant,  the  name  of  the  claim,  mine  or  lode; 
the  mining  district  and' county;  whether  the  loca- 
tion is  of  record,  and  if  so,  where  the  record  may 
be  found;  the  number  of  feet  claimed  along  the 
vein  and  the  presumed  direction  thereof;  the 
number  of  feet  claimed  on  the  lode  in  each  direc- 
tion from  the  point  of  discovery,  or  other  well- 
defined  place  on  the  claim  ;  the  name  or  names  of 
adjoining  claimants  on  the  same  or  other  lodes ; 
or  if  none  adjoin,  the  names  of  the  nearest  claims, 
etc. 

30.  After  posting  the  said  plat  and  notice  upon 


j  56  S  WORN  STA  TEMENT. 

the  premises,  the  claimant  will  file  with  the  proper 
register  and  receiver  a  copy  of  such  plat,  and  the 
field-notes  of  survey  of  the  claim,  accompanied  by 
the  affidavit  of  at  least  two  credible  witnesses  that 
such  plat  and  notice  are  posted  conspicuously 
upon  the  claim,  giving  the  date  and  place  of  such 
posting ;  a  copy  of  the  notice  so  posted  to  be  at- 
tached to,  and  form  a  part  of,  said  affidavit. 

31.  Attached  to  the  field-note  so  filed  must  be 
the  sworn  statement  of  the  claimant  that  he  has 
the  possessory  right  to  the  premises  therein  de- 
scribed, in  virtue  of  a  compliance  by  himself  (and 
by  his  grantors,  if  he  claims  by  purchase)  with  the 
mining  rules,  regulations  and  customs  of  the  min- 
ing district,  State  or  Territory  in  which  the  claim 
lies,  and  with  the  mining  laws  of  Congress ;  such 
sworn  statement  to  narrate  briefly,  but  as  clearly 
as  possible,  the  facts  constituting  such  compliance, 
the  origin  of  his  possession,  and  the  basis  of  his 
claim  to  a  patent. 

32.  This  affidavit  should  be  supported  by  appro- 
priate evidence  from  the  mining  recorder's  office 
as  to  his  possessory  right,  as  follows,  viz. :  Where 
he  claims  to  be  a  locator,  a  full,  true  and  correct 
copy  of  such  location  should  be  furnished,  as  the 
same  appears  upon  the  mining  records  ;  such  copy 
to  be  attested  by  the  seal  of  the  recorder,  or  if  he 
has  no  seal,  then  he  should  make  oath  to  the  same 
being  correct,  as  shown  by  his  records ;  where  the 
applicant   claims   as    a  locator   in  company  with 


SECOND AR  V  E  VIDENCE. 


I67 


others,  who  have  since  conveyed  their  interests  in 
the  lode  to  him,  a  copy  of  the  original  record  of 
location  should  be  filed,  together  with  an  abstract 
of  title  from  the  proper  recorder,  under  seal  or 
oath  as  aforesaid,  tracing  the  co-locator's  posses- 
sory rights  in  the  claim  to  such  applicant  for 
patent ;  where  the  applicant  claims  only  as  a  pur- 
chaser for  valuable  consideration,  a  copy  of  the 
location  record  must  be  filed,  under  seal  or  upon 
oath  as  aforesaid,  with  an  abstract  of  title  certified 
as  above  by  the  proper  recorder,  tracing  the  right 
of  possession  by  a  continuous  chain  of  convey- 
ances from  the  original  locators  to  the  applicant. 

33.  In  the  event  of  the  mining  records  in  any 
case  having  been  destroyed  by  fire  or  otherwise 
lost,  affidavit  of  the  fact  should  be  made,  and 
secondary  evidence  of  possessory  title  will  be  re- 
ceived, which  may  consist  of  the  affidavit  of  the 
claimant,  supported  by  those  of  any  other  parties 
cognizant  of  the  facts  relative  to  his  location,  occu. 
pancy,  possession,  improvements,  etc. ;  and  in  such 
case  of  lost  records,  any  deeds,  certificates  of  loca- 
tion or  purchase*  or  other  evidence  which  may  be 
in  the  claimant's  possession,  and  tend  to  establish 
his  claim,  should  be  filed. 

34.  Upon  the  receipt  of  these  papers  the  register 
will,  at  the  expense  of  the  claimant,  publish  a  no- 
tice of  such  application  for  the  period  of  sixty  days, 
in  a  newspaper  published  nearest  to  the  claim,  and 
will  post  a  copy  of  such  notice  in  his  office  for  the 


!58         certificate  OF  SURVEYOR-GENERAL, 

same  period.  In  all  cases  sixty  days  must  inter- 
vene between  the  first  and  last  insertion  of  the 
notice  in  such  newspaper. 

35.  The  notices  so  published  and  posted  must 
be  as  full  and  complete  as  possible,  and  embrace 
all  the  data  given  in  the  notice  posted  upon  the 
claim. 

36.  Too  much  care  cannot  be  exercised  in  the 
preparation  of  these  notices,  inasmuch  as  upon 
their  accuracy  and  completeness  will  depend,  in  a 
great  measure,  the  regularity  and  validity  of  the 
whole  proceeding. 

37.  The  claimant,  either  at  the  time  of  filing 
these  papers  with  the  register,  or  at  any  time 
during  the  sixty  days*  publication,  is  required  to 
file  a  certificate  of  the  surveyor-general  that  not 
less  than  five  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  labor  has 
been  expended  or  improvements  made  upon  the 
claim  by  the  applicant  or  his  grantors;  that  the 
plat  filed  by  the  claimant  is  correct ;  that  the  field- 
notes  of  the  survey,  as  filed,  furnish  such  an  accu- 
rate description  of  the  claim  as  will,  if  incorporated 
into  a  patent,  serve  to  fully  identify  the  premises, 
and  that  such  reference  is  made  therein  to  natural 
objects  or  permanent  monuments  as  will  perpetu- 
ate and  fix  the  locus  thereof. 

38.  It  will  be  the  more  convenient  way  to  have 
this  certificate  indorsed  by  the  surveyor-general, 
both  upon  the  plat  and  field-notes  of  survey  filed 
by  the  claimant  as  aforesaid. 


COMPLETE  PAYMENT. 


169 


39.  After  the  sixty  days'  period  of  newspaper 
publication  has  expired  the  claimant  will  file  his 
affidavit,  showing  that  the  plat  and  notice  afore- 
said remained  conspicuously  posted  upon  the  claim 
sought  to  be  patented  during  said  sixty  days'  pub- 
lication. 

40.  Upon  the  filing  of  this  affidavit  the  register 
will,  if  no  adverse  claim  was  filed  in  his  office 
during  the  period  of  publication,  permit  the  claim- 
ant to  pay  for  the  land  according  to  the  area  given 
in  the  plat  and  field-notes  of  survey  aforesaid,  at 
the  rate  of  five  dollars  for  each  acre  and  five 
dollars  for  each  fractional  part  of  an  acre,  the 
receiver  issuing  the  usual  duplicate  receipt  there- 
for ;  after  which  the  whole  matter  will  be  forwarded 
to  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office 
and  a  patent  issued  thereon  if  found  regular. 

41.  In  sending  up  the  papers  in  the  case  the 
register  must  not  omit  certifying  to  the  fact  that 
the  notice  was  posted  in  his  office  for  the  full  period 
of  sixty  days,  such  certificate  to  state  distinctly 
when  such  posting  was  done  and  how  long  con- 
tinued. 

42.  The  consecutive  series  of  numbers  of  min- 
eral entries  must  be  continued,  whether  the  same 
are  of  lode  or  placer  claims. 

43.  The  surveyor-general  must  continue  to 
designate  all  surveyed  mineral  claims  as  hereto- 
fore by  a  progressive  series  of  numbers,  begin- 
ning with  lot  No.  37  in  each  township;  the  claim 


jjq  PATENTS  FOR  CLAIMS. 

to  be  so  designated  at  date  of  filing"  the  plat,  field- 
notes,  etc.,  in  addition  to  the  local  designation  of 
the  claim ;  it  being  required  in  all  cases  that  the 
plat  and  field-notes  of  the  survey  of  a  claim  must, 
in  addition  to  the  reference  to  permanent  objects 
in  the  neighborhood,  describe  the  locus  of  the 
claim  with  reference  to  the  lines  of  public  surveys 
by  a  line  connecting  a  corner  of  the  claim  with  the 
nearest  public  corner  of  the  United  States  surveys, 
unless  such  claim  be  on  unsurveyed  lands  at  a  re- 
mote distance  from  such  public  corner ;  in  which 
latter  case  the  reference  by  course  and  distance  to 
permanent  objects  in  the  neighborhood  will  be  a 
sufficient  designation  by  which  to  fix  the  locus 
until  the  public  surveys  shall  have  been  closed 
upon  its  boundaries. 

Placer  Claims. 

53.  The  proceedings  to  obtain  patents  for  claims 
usually  called  placers,  including  all  forms  of  de- 
posit, are  similar  to  the  proceedings  prescribed  for 
obtaining  patents  for  vein  or  lode  claims ;  but 
where  said  placer  claim  shall  be  upon  surveyed 
lands,  and  conform  to  legal  subdivisions,  no  fur- 
ther survey  or  plat  will  be  required;  and  all 
placer-mining  claims  located  after  May  10th,  1872, 
shall  conform  as  nearly  as  practicable  with  the 
United  States  system  of  public-land  surveys  and 
the  rectangular  subdivisions  of  such  surveys,  and 
no  such  location  shall  include  more  than  twenty 


TEN- ACRE   LOIS.  lyl 

acres  for  each  individual  claimant;  but  where 
placer  claims  cannot  be  conformed  to  legal  sub- 
divisions, survey  and  plat  shall  be  made  as  on 
unsurveyed  lands.  But  where  such  claims  are 
located  previous  to  the  public  surveys,  and  do  not 
conform  to  legal  subdivisions,  survey,  plat  and 
entry  thereof  may  be  made  according  to  the  boun- 
daries fixed  by  local  laws. 

54.  The  proceedings  for  obtaining  patents  for 
veins  or  lodes  having  already  been  fully  given,  it 
will  not  be  necessary  to  repeat  them  here ;  it  being 
thought  that  careful  attention  thereto  by  appli- 
cants and  the  local  officers  will  enable  them  to  act 
understandingly  in  the  matter,  and  make  such 
slight  modifications  in  the  notice,  or  otherwise,  as 
may  be  necessary  in  view  of  the  different  nature 
of  the  two  classes  of  claims,  placer  claims  being 
fixed,  however,  at  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per 
acre,  or  fractional  part  of  an  acre. 

55.  By  section  2330,  authority  is  given  for  the 
subdivision  of  forty-acre  legal  subdivisions  into 
ten-acre  lots,  which  is  intended  for  the  greater  con- 
venience of  miners  in  segregating  their  claims  both 
from  one  another  and  from  intervening  agricul- 
tural lands. 

56.  It  is  held,  therefore,  that  under  a  proper 
construction  of  the  law  these  ten-acre  lots  in  min- 
ing districts  should  be  considered  and  dealt  with, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  legal  subdivisions, 
and  that  an  applicant  having  a  legal  claim  which 


j  j 2  HOW  DESCRIBED. 

conforms  to  one  or  more  of  these  ten-acre  lots, 
either  adjoining  or  cornering,  may  make  entry 
thereof,  after  the  usual  proceedings,  without  fur- 
ther survey  or  plat. 

57.  In  cases  of  this  kind,  however,  the  notice 
given  of  the  application  must  be  very  specific  and 
accurate  in  description,  and  as  the  forty-acre  tracts 
may  be  subdivided  into  ten-acre  lots,  either  in  the 
form  of  squares  of  ten-by-ten  chains,  or  of  paral- 
lelograms five  by  twenty  chains,  so  long  as  the 
lines  are  parallel  and  at  right  angles  with  the  lines 
of  the  public  surveys,"  it  will  be  necessary  that  the 
notice  and  application  state  specifically  what  ten- 
acre  lots  are  sought  to  be  patented,  in  addition  to 
the  other  data  required  in  the  notice. 

58.  Where  the  ten-acre  subdivision  is  in  the 
form  of  a  square  it  may  be  described,  for  instance, 
as  the  "  S.  E.  %  of  the  S.  W.  %  of  the  N.  W.  J&" 
or,  if  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram  as  aforesaid, 
it  may  be  described  as  the  "  W.  J^  of  the  W.  y£  of 
the  S.  W.  %  of  the  N.  W.  %  (or  the  N.  %  of  the 
S.  y2  of  the  N.  E.  *4  °f  tne  S.  E.  J^)  of  section 

,  township  ,  range  ,"  as  the 

case  may  be;  but,  in  addition  to  this  description  of 
the  land,  the  notice  must  give  all  the  other  data 
that  is  required  in  a  mineral  application,  by  which 
parties  may  be  put  on  inquiry  as  to  the  premises 
sought  to  be  patented.  The  proof  submitted,  with 
applications  for  claims  of  this  kind,  must  show 
clearly  the  character  and  the  extent  of  the  im- 
provements upon  the  premises. 


LIMITA  TIONS.  j  y  ? 

59.  The  proceedings  necessary  for  the  adjust- 
ment of  rights  where  a  known  vein  or  lode  is  em- 
braced by  a  placer  claim  are  so  clearly  defined 
by  section  2333,  as  to  render  any  particular  in- 
structions upon  that  point  at  this  time  unnecessary. 

60.  When  an  adverse  claim  is  filed  to  a  placer 
application,  the  proceedings  are  the  same  as  in  the 
case  of  vein  or  lode  claims,  already  described. 

Quantity  of  Placer  Ground  Subject  to  Location. 

61.  By  section  2330,  it  is  declared  that  no  loca- 
cation  of  a  placer  claim,  made  after  July  9th,  1870, 
shall  exceed  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  for  any 
one  person,  or  association  of  persons,  which  loca- 
tion shall  conform  to  the  United  States  surveys. 

62.  Section  2331  provides  that  all  placer-mining 
claims  located  after  May  10th,  1872,  shall  conform 
as  nearly  as  practicable  with  the  United  States 
system  of  public  surveys  and  the  subdivisions  of 
such  surveys,  and  no  such  locations  shall  in- 
clude more  than  twenty  acres  for  each  individual 
claimant. 

63.  The  foregoing  provisions  of  law  are  con- 
strued to  mean  that  after  the  9th  day  of  July,  1870, 
no  location  of  a  placer  claim  can  be  made  to  ex- 
ceed one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  whatever  may 
be  the  number  of  locators  associated  together,  or 
whatever  the  local  regulations  of  the  district  may 
allow;  and  that  from  and  after  May  10th,  1872,  no 
location  made  by  an  individual  can  exceed  twenty 


j  j  m  DISTRICT  RE  G  ULA  TIONS. 

acres,  and  no  location  made  by  an  association  of 
individuals  can  exceed  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  which  location  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  cannot  be  made  by  a  less  number  than  eight 
bona  fide  locators,  but  that  whether  as  much  as 
twenty  acres  can  be  located  by  an  individual,  or 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  by  an  association, 
depends  entirely  upon  the  mining  regulations  in 
force  in  the  respective  districts  at  the  date  of  the 
location;  it  being  held  that  such  mining  regula- 
tions are  in  no  way  enlarged  by  the  statutes,  but 
remain  intact  and  in  full  force  with  regard  to  the 
size  of  locations,  in  so  far  as  they  do  not  permit 
locations  in  excess  of  the  limits  fixed  by  Congress, 
but  that  where  such  regulations  permit  locations 
in  excess  of  the  maximums  fixed  by  Congress  as 
aforesaid,  they  are  restricted  accordingly. 

64.  The  regulations  hereinbefore  given  as  to  the 
manner  of  marking  locations  on  the  ground,  and 
placing  the  same  on  record,  must  be  observed  in 
the  case  of  placer  locations,  so  far  as  the  same  are 
applicable  ;  the  law  requiring,  however,  that  where 
placer  claims  are  upon  surveyed  public  lands  the 
locations  must  hereafter  be 'made  to  conform  to 
legal  subdivisions  thereof  as  near  as  practicable. 

65.  With  regard  to  the  proofs  necessary  to  es- 
tablish the  possessory  right  to  a  placer  claim,  sec- 
tion 2332  provides  that,  "where  such  person  or 
association,  they  and  their  grantors,  have  held  and 
worked  their  claims  for  a  period  equal  to  the  time 


SPECIAL  EVIDENCE.  j  » c 

prescribed  by  the  statute  of  limitations  for  mining 
claims  of  the  State  or  Territory  where  the  same 
may  be  situated,  evidence  of  such  possession  and 
working  of  the  claims  for  such  period  shall  be  suf- 
ficient to  establish  a  right  to  a  patent  thereto  under 
this  chapter,  in  the  absence  of  any  adverse  claim." 

66.  This  provision  of  law  will  greatly  lessen  the 
burden  of  proof,  more  especially  in  the  case  of  old 
claims  located  many  years  since,  the  records  of 
which,  in  many  cases,  have  been  destroyed  by  fire, 
or  lost  in  other  ways  during  the  lapse  of  time,  but 
concerning  the  possessory  right  to  which  all  con- 
troversy or  litigation  has  long  been  settled. 

67.  When  ah  applicant  desires  to  make  his 
proof  of  possessory  right  in  accordance  with  this 
provision  of  law,  you  will  not  require  him  to  pro- 
duce evidence  of  location,  copies  of  conveyances, 
or  abstracts  of  title,  as  in  other  cases,  but  will  re- 
quire him  to  furnish  a  duly  certified  copy  of  the 
statute  of  limitations  of  mining  claims  for  the  State 
or  Territory,  together  with  his  sworn  statement, 
giving  a  clear  and  succinct  narration  of  the  facts 
as  to  the  origin  of  his  title,  and  likewise  as  to  the 
continuation  of  his  possession  of  the  mining-ground 
covered  by  his  application ;  the  area  thereof,  the 
nature  and  extent  of  the  mining  that  has  been 
done  thereon ;  whether  there  has  been  any  oppo- 
sition to  his  possession  or  litigation  with  regard  to 
his  claim ;  and  if  so,  when  the  same  ceased  ; 
whether  such  cessation  was  caused  by  compromise 


176 


CERTIFICATE  REQUIRED. 


or  by  judicial  decree,  and  any  additional  facts 
within  the  claimant's  knowledge  having  a  direct 
bearing  upon  his  possession  and  bona  fides 
which  he  may  desire  to  submit  in  support  of  his 
claim. 

68.  There  should  likewise  be  filed  a  certificate, 
under  seal  of  the  court  having  jurisdiction  of  min- 
ing cases  within  the  judicial  district  embracing  the 
claim,  that  no.  suit  or  action  of  any  character  what- 
ever involving  the  right  of  possession  to  any  por- 
tion of  the  claim  applied  for  is  pending,  and  that 
there  has  been  no  litigation  before  said  court 
affecting  the  title  to  said  claim  or  any  part  thereof 
for  a  period  equal  to  the  time  fixed  by  the  statute 
of  limitations  for  mining  claims  in  the  State  or 
Territory  as  aforesaid,  other  than  that  which  has 
been  finally  decided  in  favor  of  the  claimant. 

69.  The  claimant  should  support  his  narrative 
of  facts  relative  to  his  possession,  occupancy  and 
improvements  by  corroborative  testimony  of  any 
disinterested  person  or  persons  of  credibility  who 
may  be  cognizant  of  the  facts  in  the  case  and 
are  capable  of  testifying  understandingly  in  the 
premises. 

70.  It  will  be  to  the  advantage  of  claimants  to 
make  their  proofs  as  full  and  complete  as  practi- 
cable. 

Mill  Sites. 

71.  Section  2337  provides  that,  "where  non- 
mineral  land  not  contiguous  to  the  vein  or  lode  is 


PATENT  FOR  MILL  SITE.  j  yy 

used  or  occupied  by  the  proprietor  of  such  vein  or 
lode  for  mining  or  milling1  purposes,  such  non- 
adjacent  surface-ground  may  be  embraced  and 
included  in  an  application  for  a  patent  for  such 
vein  or  lode,  and  the  same  may  be  patented  there- 
with, subject  to  the  same  preliminary  requirements 
as  to  survey  and  notice  as  are  applicable  to  veins 
or  lodes ;  but  no  location  hereafter  made  of  such 
non-adjacent  land  shall  exceed  five  acres,  and  pay- 
ment for  the  same  must  be  made  at  the  same  rate 
as  fixed  by  this  chapter  for  the  superficies  of  the 
lode.  The  owner  of  a  quartz-mill  or  reduction- 
works,  not  owning  a  mine  in  connection  therewith, 
may  also  receive  a  patent  for  his  mill  site  as  pro- 
vided in  this  section." 

72.  To  avail  themselves  of  this  provision- of  law, 
parties  holding  the  possessory  right  to  a  vein  or 
lode,  and  to  a  piece  of  non-mineral  land  not  con- 
tiguous thereto,  for  mining  or  milling  purposes, 
not  exceeding  the  quantity  allowed  for  such  pur- 
pose by  the  local  rules,  regulations  or  customs, 
the  proprietors  of  such  vein  or  lode  may  file  in  the 
proper  land  office  their  application  for  a  patent, 
under  oath,  in  manner  already  set  forth,  herein, 
which  application,  together  with  the  plat  and  field- 
notes,  may  include,  embrace  and  describe,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  vein  or  lode,  such  non-contiguous  mill 
site,  and  after  due  proceedings  as  to  notice,  etc., 
a  patent  will  be  issued  conveying  the  same  as  one 
claim. 


I  y g  PROOF  REQ UIRED. 

73.  In  making-  the  survey  in  a  case  of  this  kind, 
the  lode  claim  should  be  described  in  the  plat  and 
field-notes  as  "  Lot  No.  37 >  A,"  and  the  mill  site  as 
"Lot  No.  2>7>  B,"  or  whatever  may  be  its  appro- 
priate numerical  designation ;  the  course  and  dis- 
tance from  a  corner  of  the  mill  site  to  a  corner  of 
the  lode  claim  to  be  invariably  given  in  such  plat 
and  field-notes,  and  a  copy  of  the  plat  and  notice 
of  application  for  patent  must  be  conspicuously 
posted  upon  the  mill  site  as  well  as  upon  the  vein 
or  lode  for  the  statutory  period  of  sixty  days.  In 
making  the  entry  no  separate  receipt  or  certificate 
need  be  issued  for  the  mill  site,  but  the  whole  area 
of  both  lode  and  mill  site  will  be  embraced  in  one 
entry,  the  price  being  five  dollars  for  each  acre 
and  fractional  part  of  an  acre  embraced  by  such 
lode  and  mill  site  claim. 

74.  In  case  the  owner  of  a  quartz-mill  or  reduc- 
tion-works is  not  the  owner  or  claimant  of  a  vein 
or  lode,  the  law  permits  him  'to  make  application 
therefor  in  the  same  manner  prescribed  herein  for 
mining  claims,  and  after  due  notice  and  proceed- 
ings, in  the  absence  of  a  valid  adverse  filing,  to 
enter  and  receive  a  patent  for  his  mill  site  at  said 
price  per  acre. 

75.  In  every  case  there  must  be  satisfactory 
proof  that  the  land  claimed  as  a  mill  site  is  not 
mineral  in  character,  which  proof  may,  where  the 
matter  is  unquestioned,  consist  of  the  sworn  state- 
ment of  the  claimant,  supported  by  that  of  one  or 


MANNER  OF  PROOF.  j  jg 

more  disinterested  persons  capable  from  acquaint- 
ance with  the  land  to  testify  understandingly. 

76.  The  law  expressly  limits  mill  site  locations 
made  from  and  after  its  passage  to  five  acres,  but 
whether  so  much  as  that  can  be  located  depends 
upon  the  local  customs,  rules  or  regulations. 

77.  The  registers  and  receivers  will  preserve  an 
unbroken  consecutive  series  of  numbers  for  all 
mineral  entries. 

Proof  of  Citizenship  of  Mining:  Claimants. 

78.  The  proof  necessary  to  establish  the  citizen- 
ship of  applicants  for  mining  patents  must  be  made 
in  the  following  manner:  In  case  of  an  incorpo- 
rated company,  a  certified  copy  of  their  charter  or 
certificate  of  incorporation  must  be  filed.  In  case 
of  an  association  of  persons  unincorporated,  the 
affidavit  of  their  duly  authorized  agent,  made  upon 
his  own  knowledge,  or  upon  information  and  be- 
lief, setting  forth  the  residence  of  each  person 
forming  such  an  association,  must  be  submitted. 
This  affidavit  must  be  accompanied  by  a  power  of 
attorney  from  the  parties  forming  such  association, 
authorizing  the  person  who  makes  the  affidavit  of 
citizenship  to  act  for  them  in  the  matter  of  their 
application  for  patent. 

79.  In  case  of  an  individual  or  an  association  of 
individuals  who  do  not  appear  by  their  duly  au- 
thqrized  agent,  you  will  require  the  affidavit  of 
each  applicant,  showing  whether  he  is  a  native  or 


!g0  AFFIDAVIT. 

* 

naturalized  citizen,  when  and  where  born,  and  his 
residence. 

80.  In  case  an  applicant  has  declared  his  inten- 
tion to  become  a  citizen,  or  has  been  naturalized, 
his  affidavit  must  show  the  date,  place  and  court 
before  which  he  declared  his  intention,  or  from 
which  his  certificate  of  citizenship  issued,  and  pre- 
sent residence. 

81.  The  affidavit  of  citizenship  may  be  taken 
before  the  register  and  receiver,  or  any  other 
officer  authorized  to  administer  oaths  within  the 
district. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  BLACK  HILLS:  EARLY  HISTORY  AND  DISCOVERY — INDIAN  TRA- 
DITIONS—ORIGIN OF  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  GOLD — THE  FIRST  PARTY 
TO  WINTER  THERE — EVIDENCES  OF  FORMER  OCCUPATION — THE  FIRST 
CITY — THE  FIRST  DISCOVERY  OF  QUARTZ — COST  OF  SOME  OF  THE 
MINES — ANNUAL  PRODUCTION — MINING  REGULATIONS,  ETC. 

The  Black  Hills— Early  History  and  Discovery. 

ABOUT  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  north 
of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  in  the  midst 
of  an  alkaline  desert,  and  embraced  be- 
tween two  branches  of  the  Cheyenne  River — a 
tributary  of  the  Missouri — rises  a  magnificent 
mass  of  mountains,  covering  an  extent  of  territory 
about  as  large  as  the  State  of  Vermont.  To  these 
mountains  the  Sioux  Indians  gave  the  name  of 
"  Pah  Sappa,"  which,  interpreted,  is  Black  Hill. 
These  are  the  Black  Hills  proper.  Another  range 
of  mountains,  about  two  hundred  miles  west  and 
south-west,  are  called  by  this  name,  and  are  lain 
down  on  some  maps  as  such,  but  they  properly 
belong  to  the  Laramie  Mountain  range,  and  are  a 
continuation  of  these  mountains,  and  should  not 
be- called  Black  Hills. 

The  Black  Hills  rise  up  abruptly  and  alone  in 
the  midst  of  a  plain  more  than  two  hundred  miles 
from  any  other  range  of  mountains,  their  highest 
peaks  reaching  about  seven  thousand  feet  above 


jg2  INDIANS  MERE  SOJOURNERS. 

sea  level.  They  might  truly  be  called  an  oasis  in 
a  wide  and  dreary  desert,  its  approaches  on  every 
side  being  through  long  stretches  of  treeless 
plains,  whose  waters  are  so  strongly  impregnated 
with  alkalies  as  to  be  unfit  for  the  use  of  man. 
But  when  once  the  hills  are  reached,  all  this  is 
changed.  Dense  forests  abound ;  springs  and 
streams  of  pure  water  are  abundant,  and  along 
the  creek  bottom-lands  grows  luxuriant  grass. 
The  soil  of  the  valleys  is  rich  and  fertile,  and  it 
will  become  a  fine  grazing  country. 

The  Black  Hills'  Indian  Natiyes. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  the  exploring  expedition 
of  1875  that  the  Hills  had  never  been  the  perma- 
nent home  of  the  Indians.  Had  the  country  been 
used  as  such  a  residence  within  a  period  of  thirty 
years,  it  is  claimed  some  marks  of  its  occupation 
would  have  been  visible.  But  the  party  learned 
that,  although  small  bands  of  Indians  go  a  little 
way  into  the  Hills  to  cut  lodge  polls,  all  signs  indi- 
cated that  they  were  the  merest  sojourners  of  the 
most  temporary  sort.  These  views  were  corrobo- 
rated by  the  Indians  themselves.  A  few  of  them> 
through  curiosity  at  the  presence  of  the  soldiers, 
came  into  the  Hills  in  1875,  and  one  old  chief  con- 
versed with  the  interpreter.  He  said  he  was  fifty 
years  old,  and  had  always  lived  in  that  section  of 
country,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Hills,  but  that  he 
had  never  ventured    into    them  before  ;  that  the 


FIRST  SUGGESTIONS. 


I83 


squaws  came  sometimes  to  cut  lodge  polls,  but 
their  stay  was  very  short;  that  the  Hills  were 
"bad  medicine,"  and  the  abode  of  spirits;  that  it 
thundered  and  lightened,  and  rained  very  hard, 
sometimes ;  that  the  Indian  does  not  like  rain ; 
that  the  lightning  tears  the  trees  to  pieces  and 
sets  fire  to  the  woods ;  and,  moreover,  that  the 
Indian  had  never  lived  there. 

It  is  said  these  statements  were  borne  out  by 
every  Indian  communicated  with,  and  they  are,  un- 
doubtedly, in  a  great  measure  true. 

Origin  of  the  Discovery  of  Gold. 

The  following  are  said  to  have  been  the  causes 
which  led  to  the  discoveries  in  this  region : 

Some  Indians  came  into  a  frontier  trading  post, 
bringing  small  grains  and  nuggets  of  gold.  Plied 
with  presents  and  "  fire-water,"  they  said  it  came 
from  the  Black  Hills. 

Other  accounts  of  the  discoveries  in  the  Black 
Hills  say  that  as  far  back  as  1 849,  Indians  exhibited 
specimens  of  gold  to  trappers  and  hunters,  which 
they  claimed  to  have  found  in  the  Hills. 

It  appears  that  as  early  as  1855,  General  Har- 
ney visited  the  Hills  on  a  sort  of  an  exploring  expe- 
dition, and  the  highest  peak  has  been  named  in  his 
honor  (Harney's  Peak).  General  Warren  visited 
them  in  1856-57;  Dr.  Hayden  in  1858-59,  and 
General  Sully  in  1864.  Father  Desmet,  a  Catholic 
missionary,  after  whom  the   Desmet  Gold   Mine 


184 


PROSPECTING  EXPEDITIONS. 


was  named,  also  visited  the  Black  Hills  at  a  very 
early  day. 

From  the  reports  and  observations  of  these 
many  explorers  it  seems  that  the  Hills  were  be- 
lieved to  contain  great  mineral  wealth,  although 
but  little  had  been  accomplished  in  the  way  of  dis- 
covery. It  is  asserted  that  in  1852  a  party  of  men, 
en  route  for  California,  influenced  by  reports  of 
gold  in  the  Black  Hills,  made  their  way  thither, 
and  found  rich  diggings ;  but  that  they  were  all 
massacred  by  Indians  except  one,  who  made  his 
escape,  but  died  soon  afterward  of  disease.  It 
seems  some  evidences  tending  to  confirm  this  re- 
port have  been  found  in  the  remains  of  old  rotten 
and  decayed  sluice-boxes,  and  marks  of  mining 
works  found  there  at  the  time  of  the  great  rush  in 
1876-77. 

These  rumors  spread,  and  becoming  greatly 
exaggerated,  all  classes  were  excited  by  them. 
To  solve  the  problem,  the  Government  sent  out 
Custer's  expedition,  of  1874.  After  his  return,  the 
question  still  being  undecided,  the  expedition  of 
1875,  under  the  charge  of  Professor  Jenney,  was 
ordered  by  the  Interior  Department,  at  Washing- 
ton, of  which  some  account  has  been  given. 

This  expedition  found  gold  in  many  places,  but 
no  placer  fields  of  very  great  richness ;  in  fact, 
none  that  would  pay  the  ordinary  pan  or  cradle 
miner.  The  position  of  the  present  rich  mines  in 
the  vicinity  of  Deadwood  was  still  undiscovered. 


BETTER  RESULTS. 


185 


Professor  Jenney  did  not  visit  Deadwood  and 
Whitewood  Gulches,  owing*  to  the  dense  forests 
and  timber  which  presented  obstacles  to  his  enter- 
ing- with  his  train. 

In  1876,  these  gulches  were  prospected  by 
miners  and  found  to  be  rich  in  placer  deposits. 
During  that  summer  the  population  was  swelled 
by  an  immigration  of  nearly  seven  thousand,  who 
settled  in  and  around  Deadwood  Gulch,  and  the 
yield  of  gold  during  the  year,  from  the  placer 
mines  alone,  was  one  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars. 
Quartz  mining  was  not  yet  at  this  time  inaugu- 
rated. 

Just  previous,  however,  to  the  advent  of  Pro- 
fessor Jenney,  and  during  the  winter  of  1874—75,  a 
party  of  miners,  consisting  of  twenty-two  men  and 
one  woman,  made  their  way  into  the  Hills  by  fol- 
lowing the  trail  by  which  General  Custer  came  out 
in  '74,  and  camped  on  French  Creek,  at  a  place 

The  First  Party  to  Winter  in  the  Hills. 

since  known  as  Camp  Harney.  Here  they  erected 
a  stockade  of  upright  logs,  set  two  feet  in  the 
ground  and  rising  twelve  or  fourteen  feet  high. 
This  was  made  eighty  feet  square,  with  flanking 
projections  at  the  corners,  of  very  straight  logs, 
ten  inches  in  diameter,  set  as  close  together  as 
possible  and  battened  on  the  inside.  There  was 
but  one  gate,  and  that  was  on  a  side  difficult  to 
approach,  on  account  of  the  creek,  and  was  barred 


!g5  tallants  stockade. 

by  a  bullet-proof  door.  Inside  this  inclosure  was 
five  log  cabins,  and  between  the  cabins  and  wall  a 
space  sufficient  for  their  wagons  and  animals. 
These  miners  had  also  laid  out  a  town,  and  the 
foundations  of  several  houses  were  begun. 

This  party,  after  all  this  labor  had  been  ex- 
pended by  them,  were  compelled  to  leave,  and 
were  brought  out  of  the  Hills  by  troops  about 
March  ist,  1875.  They  had  been  there  but  four 
months,  yet  in  that  short  time,  in  addition  to  build- 
ing the  stockade,  had  riddled  the  valley  with  pros- 
pect holes  and  had  worked  on  quartz  leads  in 
places  far  into  the  Hills.  These  were  the  first 
miners  who  ever  wintered  in  the  Black  Hills,  of 
which  there  is  any  reliable  record.  The  fortress 
made  by  them  has  been  called  Tallant's  Stockade, 
from  Colonel  D.  G.  Tallant,  who  is  thought  to 
have  been  the  leader  of  the  party,  and  his  wife, 
Mrs.  Tallant,  being  the  first  woman  to  enter  the 
Black  Hills. 

Evidences  of  Former  Occupation. 

This  party  claimed  to  have  found  evidences  of 
former  occupation  by  white  men.  In  the  bed  of 
the  creek  was  found  the  rotten  remains  of  cotton- 
wood  trees,  of  which  the  heart  had  been  hollowed 
out  to  form  sluice-boxes.  They  found  the  remains 
of  two  shovels,  pieces  of  tin  and  fragments  of  iron 
'not  far  from  the  decayed  sluices.  They  also 
claimed   to   have   found   the    remains  of  an   old 


OBLIGED  TO  BACK  OUT. 


I87 


cabin,  formed  by  poles  leaning  up  against  an 
overhanging  rock,  and  not  far  away  a  wooden 
cross,  standing  upright  on  a  rock,  tied  together 
with  rawhide,  and  near  its  base,  cut  into  the  moss- 
covered  stone,  were  two  rude  letters,  "  J.  M.,"  and 
the  date,  "  1846."  This  was  supposed  by  Tallant 
to  mark  the  grave  of  some  unfortunate  pioneer. 
How  reliable  these  stories  may  be,  the  author  has 
no  means  of  ascertaining,  but  gives  them  for  what 
they  are  worth. 

By  the  20th  of  July,  1875,  during  the  stay  of  the 
Government  expedition,  at  least  six  hundred 
miners  were  engaged  in  mining  and  prospecting. 
As  this  country  was  then  an  Indian  reservation, 
the  Government  desired  that  the  miners  should 
be  taken  out,  and  accordingly  General  Crook 
came  in  person  to  Custer  City,  called  a  meeting 
of  miners,  to  take  place  August  10th,  1875,  and 
requested  them  to  voluntarily  leave  the  Hills.  He 
conversed*  freely  with  them  and  urged  them  to 
depart,  making  known  that  his  orders  were  im- 
perative to  remove  them  from  the  Indian  reserva- 
tion. 

The  First  City  Organized. 

Before  going  out,  however,  the  miners  pro- 
ceeded to  organize  a  "  city."  A  beautiful  site  was 
chosen  in  the  valley  of  French  Creek,  a  commis- 
sion appointed,  streets  laid  out  and  named,  lots 
surveyed  and  numbered,  and  all  else  having  been 
done,  a  difficulty  arose  about  choosing  a  name. 


jgg  ^CUSTER   CITY. 

The  miners  were  about  equally  divided  between 
Northern  men  and  those  from  the  South.  The 
Northerners  wished  to  call  the  town  "  Custer  City," 
and  the  Southern  men  wished  it  to  be  "Stonewall." 
Debate  ran  high,  words  nearly  led  to  blows,  wea- 
pons and  revolvers  were  freely  brandished  ;  finally 
a  vote  was  taken,  and  when  the  judges  of  election 
arose,  after  counting  the  ballots,  they  pronounced 
the  name  "Custer  City." 

The  ownership  of  town  lots  was  decided  by 
each  man  drawing  from  a  box  a  folded  ticket,  on 
which  was  written  the  number  of  the  lot  of  which 
he  was  to  become  the  owner. 

This  town  organization  took  place  August  ioth, 
1875.  Two  other  towns  were  laid  out  during  the 
same  summer — one  on  Spring  Creek  and  the 
other  on  Rapid.  But  neither  arrived  at  the  dig- 
nity of  a  house.  Custer  City,  however,  boasted  of 
two  large  log  structures,  one  intended  for  a  court- 
house and  the  other  a  hotel.  These  constituted 
the  towns  of  the  Black  Hills,  when  General  Crook 
brought  the  miners  out  in  1875. 

Early  in  1876  Custer  became  a  "booming"  camp. 
Its  streets  became  crowded  with  business  houses, 
tents,  log  huts,  dance-houses  and  hotels ;  but  the 
placer  mines  not  proving  very  rich,  the  population 

First  Discoyery  of  Quartz  Lodes. 

scattered  over  the  country,  and  upon  the  discovery 
of  the  richer  deposits  of  Deadwood  Gulch,  later 


CITIES  BUILT. 


189 


in  the  season,  Deadwood  City  sprang  into  life, 
and  became  the  objective  point  of  the  great  immi- 
gration that  was  pouring  into  the  Black  Hills,  and 
Custer  City  became  almost  deserted. 

During  the  summer  of  1876,  the  population  of 
the  Hills  was  swelled  to  a  number  not  less  than 
seven  thousand,  most  of  whom  settled  in  and 
around  Deadwood  City. 

Other  towns  were  formed,  and  "  Gayville,"  a 
mile  and  a  half  above  Deadwood,  and  "  Crook 
City"  (after  General  Crook),  eight  miles  below 
on  Whitewood  Creek,  were  laid  out  simulta- 
neously. "  Hill  City,"  on  Spring  Creek,  and 
"Rapid  City,"  on  Rapid  Creek,  were  formed  a 
little  earlier  than  Deadwood.  Central  City,  two 
miles  up  Deadwood  Creek,  and  Lead  City,  four 
miles  up  Whitewood  Creek,  which  streams  unite 
at  the  city  of  Deadwood,  were  built  about  a  year 
later,  and  became  towns  of  considerable  import- 
ance, because  lying  in  the  vicinity  of  some  of  the 
great  gold  mines  of  the  Hills,  at  which  there  was 
subsequently  large  quartz-mills  erected. 

It  was  an  auspicious  day  for  the  Black  Hills 
when  a  miner  happened  to  uncover  a  ledge  of 
singular-looking  iron-stained  quartz  down  on  the 
bed-rock  of  his  gulch  claim,  near  the  present  site 
of  Deadwood.  The  specimen  fairly  sparkled  with 
golden  grains.  He  ground  it  to  powder  on  the 
flat  surface  of  a  large  stone,  washed  it  in  a  pros- 
pecting pan,  and  found  it  to  contain  gold  at  the 


jg0  IMMENSE  DEPOSITS. 

rate  of  nearly  one  dollar  for  every  pound  of  rock. 
Druggists'  mortars  were  then  brought  into  requi- 
sition, and  miners  began  to  pound  out  from  these 
claims  considerable  amounts  of  gold.  Quartz 
locations  then  became  in  order,  and  developments 
proved  the  existence  of  immense  deposits  of  gold- 
bearing  quartz  in  veins  of  such  great  size  as  were 
heretofore  unknown,  and  quartz  mining  and  pros- 
pecting was  begun,  and  has  been  very  actively 
prosecuted  since.     This  was  the  spring  of  1877. 

California  capitalists  were  not  long  in  learning 
of  the  great  size  of  these  deposits,  together  with 
their  richness  and  free-milling  qualities,  and  the 
ease  and  moderate  expense  with  which  the  ores 
could  be  manipulated,  and  in  the  winter  of  1 877-78, 
they  made  heavy  investments  of  capital  in  quartz 
lodes  in  the  vicinity,  and  made  preparations  for 
the  erection  of  large  quartz-mills  for  the  reduction 
of  the  ores.  These  capitalists  paid  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars  for  the  "Father  Desmet"  mine; 
eighty  thousand  dollars  for  the  "Golden  Terra;" 
for  the  " Homestake,"  No.  1,  seventy  thousand; 
"  Homestake,"  No.  2,  fifty  thousand,  and  for  the 
"  Old  Abe,"  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 

These  mines  have  since  erected  mammoth  mills. 
The  Homestake  built  a  mill  of  eighty  stamps,  fol- 
lowing it  by  the  erection  of  another  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  stamps,  being,  it  is  said,  the 
largest  quartz  stamp-mill  in  the  world.  The  other 
large  companies  have  erected  mills  nearly  or  quite 


LARGE  FIG URES.  j  g  j 

as  large,  so  that  the  present  annual  production  of 
gold  from  quartz  alone  in  the  Black  Hills  has 
reached  the  immense  sum  of  about  five  million 
dollars. 

The  gold  yield  of  1877  is  estimated  at  two  mil- 
lion five  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  that  of  1878, 
three  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and 
that  of  1879,  at  nearly  six  million  dollars.  Un- 
doubtedly, however,  these  figures  are  large,  and 
probably  overestimate  the  amounts  produced 
rather  than  undervalue  them.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, that  1880  will  fully  reach  a  production  of  six 
millions  or  over  for  the  Black  Hills  mines. 

Black  Hills  Mining"  Regulations. 

Below  will  be  found  a  digest  of  the  mining  laws 
of  Dakota  Territory,  in  connection  with  both  gen- 
eral and  local  statutes  governing  the  location  of 
mineral  claims,  as  compiled  by  H/  N.  Maguire, 
Esq.,  attorney  at  law,  of  Rapid  City,  Dakota.  It 
will  be  found  invaluable  for  the  use  of  prospect- 
ors, miners,  mill-men,  etc. : 

Only  citizens,  and  those  who  have  declared 
their  intention  to  become  such,  can  legally  locate 
mines. 

All  land  is  mineral  that  is  more  valuable  for 
mining  than  farming  purposes. 

A  vein  or  lode  extends  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  on  each  side  of  its  centre,  and  the  end  lines 
must  be  parallel  with  each  other. 


jq2  RECORD  REQUIRED. 

Locators  have  the  exclusive  right  of  all  the  sur- 
face included  within  the  lines  of  their  locations,  and 
of  all  veins  throughout  their  entire  depth  the  tops 
or  apices  of  which  are  inside  such  surface  lines; 
but  their  right  of  possession  is  confined  to  such 
portions  thereof  as  lie  between  vertical  planes 
drawn  downward  through  the  end  lines  of  their 
locations — no  right  being  granted  to  enter  upon 
the  surface  location  of  another. 

Where  two  or  more  veins  intersect  or  cross,  the 
prior  location  will  take  the  ore  within  the  inter- 
section. 

The  discoverer  must  record  within  twenty  days 
from  the  date  of  the  discovery,  and  his  location  cer- 
tificate must  contain  (i)  the  name  of  the  vein;  (2) 
the  name  of  the  locator;  (3)  the  date  of  location; 
(4)  the  number  of  feet  in  length  claimed  on  each 
side  of  the  discovery  shaft ;  (5)  the  number  of  feet 
in  width  claimed  on  each  side ;  (6)  the  general 
course  of  the  vein,  as  nearly  as  may  be. 

The  discovery  shaft  must  show  a  well-defined 
vein;  a  plain   notice   embracing  the  above   facts 


Discovery  Shaft  O. 


must  be  posted  at  the  point  of  discovery;  the  sur- 
face boundaries  must  be  marked  by  eight  sub- 


RIGHT  OF  WAY.  jg<> 

stantial  posts  (besides  discovery),  hewed  on  the 
sides  facing  the  location,  and  sunk  in  the  ground, 
or  firmly  planted  in  monuments  of  stone,  and  ar- 
ranged as  shown  in  the  accompanying  diagram. 

Any  cut  deep  enough  to  disclose  the  vein,  or  a 
ten-foot  adit  or  trench  along  the  vein  from  the 
point  of  discovery,  would  be  a  legal  discovery 
shaft. 

The  discoverer  has  thirty  days  from  the  time  of 
uncovering  a  vein  to  sink  his  discovery  shaft. 
(Locators  cannot  exercise  too  much  care  in  de- 
fining their  veins  at  the  outset.) 

All  mining  claims  are  subject  to  the  right  of  way, 
for  mining  purposes,  of  any  ditch  or  flume,  tram- 
way or  packtrail  in  use,  or  that  may  be  laid  out 
across  such  location ;  but  such  right  of  way  shall 
not  be  exercised  against  any  location  made  prior 
to  the  claim  of  such  right  of  way  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  claim  owners,  except  by  condemna- 
tion, as  in  the  case  of  land  taken  for  public  highways ; 
and  such  ditch  or  flume  shall  be  so  constructed  as 
not  to  injure  vested  rights. 

When  the  right  to  mine  is  distinct  from  the 
ownership  or  right  of  occupancy  of  the  surface,  the 
owner  or  rightful  occupant  of  the  surface  may  de- 
mand security  from  the  miner ;  and  if  refused  may 
enjoin  the  miner  from  working  until  such  security 
is  given. 

A  locator  may  at  any  time  amend  his  location 
by  recording  an  additional  certificate  of  location, 


jp,  '  RELOCATION, 

in  accordance  with  the  general  requirements  of 
the  mining  laws,  providing  such  relocation  does 
not,  at  the  time  of  making  it,  interfere  with  the 
existing  rights  of  others. 

In  order  to  hold  a  vein  before  patent  issues 
work  must  be  done  or  improvements  made  to  the 
value  of  one  hundred  dollars  a  year ;  and  within 
six  months  from  the  year  within  which  outlay  is 
required  to  be  made  the  person  who  made  such 
outlay,  or  some  person  for  him,  shall  make  and 
record  an  affidavit  of  the  fact ;  and  the  recorder's 
certificate  shall  be  prima  facie  evidence  of  the 
performance  of  such  labor  or  the  making  such  im- 
provements. 

The  relocation  of  abandoned  claims  shall  be  by 
erecting  new  boundaries  and  by  sinking  a  new  dis- 
covery shaft,  or  by  sinking  from  the  bottom  of  the 
old  shaft  as  it  were  a  new  shaft  commenced  from 
the  surface.  (The  safer  course  is  to  sink  a  new 
shaft.) 

No  location  certificate  can  embrace  more  than 
one  claim,  no  difference  how  many  locators  there 
may  be.  The  register  of  deeds  is  entitled  to  one 
dollar  and  fifty  cents  for  recording  and  furnishing 
a  certified  copy — one  dollar  for  the  former  and 
fifty  cents  for  the  latter. 

The  penal  code  of  Dakota  makes  it  a  misde- 
meanor, punishable  by  imprisonment  in  the  county 
jail  not  less  than  thirty  days  nor  more  than  six 
months,  and  by  fine  not  exceeding  two  hundred 


LABORERS'  LIENS,  jgt- 

and  fifty  dollars,  for  two  or  more  persons,  by  force 
and  violence,  or  by  threats  of  violence  to  cause 
any  person  or  persons  to  stop  working  on  mining 
property. 

.  Mining  property  in  Dakota  is  subject  to  labor- 
ers' liens  for  work  performed  upon  it. 

The  locators  of  a  tunnel  shall  have  the  right  of 
possession  of  all  veins  within  three  thousand  feet 
from  the  face  of  such  tunnel,  on  the  line  thereof, 
not  previously  known  to  exist ;  and  locations  of 
veins  on  the  line  of  such  tunnel  that  do  not  "  crop 
out,"  made  after  the  commencement  of  the  tunnel, 
and  while  work  is  being  prosecuted  upon  it  with 
reasonable  diligence,  are  invalid. 

Locators  of  a  tunnel  must,  when  they  enter  cover, 
erect  a  substantial  post  or  monument  at  the  point 
of  commencement,  and  post  thereon  notice  giving 
(i)  the  names  of  the  locators ;  (2)  the  proposed 
direction ;  (3)  the  height  and  width ;  (4)  must 
specify  in  their  notice  such  well-known  or  easily 
ascertained  objects  in  the  vicinity  as  will  clearly 
determine  the  extent  and  course  of  the  tunnel  when 
completed;  and  (5)  at  the  time  of  posting- their  loca- 
tion notice,  shall  establish  their  boundary  lines  of 
stakes  or  monuments  to  the  terminus  of  the  three 
thousand  feet  claimed. 

A  full  and  complete  copy  of  the  notice  of  loca- 
tion defining  the  tunnel  claim,  with  a  sworn  state- 
ment of  all  the  relating  facts,  and  that  it  is  the  in- 
tention  to   prosecute   the  work  with   reasonable 


196 


RIGHTS  OF  CO-OWNERS. 


dilligence  for  the  discovery  of  veins,  must  be  filed 
for  record  at  the  time  of  posting  the  notice  of 
location. 

The  money  expended  in  making  a  tunnel  is  con- 
sidered as  expended  upon  veins  struck  in  such 
tunnel. 

Upon  the  failure  of  one  of  several  co-owners  to 
contribute  his  proportion  toward  the  development 
of  mining  property,  those  who  have  so  contributed 
may,  at  the  expiration  of  the  year,  give  the  delin- 
quent personal  notice  in  writing  or  by  publication 
in  the  newspaper  nearest  said  property  at  least 
once  a  week  for  ninety  days,  and  if  the  delinquent 
should  fail  to  contribute  his  proportion  within 
ninety  days  from  the  service  or  first  publication  of 
such  notice,  then  his  interest  in  the  property  shall 
become  the  property  of  his  co-owners  who  have 
made  the  required  expenditures. 

When  labor  or  improvements  to  the  amount  of 
five  hundred  dollars  shall  have  been  performed  or 
made  upon  a  vein  patent  may  be  applied  for. 

Notice  of  such  application  must  be  published 
for  sixty  days,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time,  if 
no  adverse  claim  shall  have  been  filed,  it  will  be 
assumed  that  the  applicant  is  entitled  to  a  patent, 
upon  making  the  necessary  proofs  and  paying  the 
receiver  of  the  district  office  the  official  fees  and 
five  dollars  per  acre.  [The  preliminaries  of  ob- 
taining a  patent  are  somewhat  complex,  and  exact- 
ness is  required  in  detail,  whereof  the  applicant 


WATER  RIGHTS. 


197 


had  better  secure  the  services  of  an  attorney  who 
makes  a  specialty  of  such  business.] 

Placer  mining  claims  may  be  patented  at  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre,  or  at  that  rate  for 
fractional  parts  of  an  acre,  under  like  circum- 
stances and  conditions,  and  upon  similar  proceed- 
ings, as  are  provided  for  veins ;  but  no  placer 
location  can  embrace  more  than  twenty  acres  for 
each  individual  claimant,  or  more  than  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  in  one  application. 

A  patent  for  a  placer  claim  conveys  any  vein 
embraced  which  was  not  known  to  exist  when  the 
patent  was  applied  for ;  but  when  a  mineral  vein 
is  known  to  be  embraced  in  the  placer  tract  at  the 
time  of  making  application  the  fact  must  be  dis- 
tinctly stated,  when  the  patent  will  issue  including 
such  vein  upon  the  applicant  paying  five  dollars 
per  acre  therefor,  including  twenty-five  feet  of  sur- 
face ground  on  each  side  thereof. 

Owners  of  quartz-mills  and  reduction-works,  as 
well  as  quartz  mine  claimants,  can  claim  not  to 
exceed  five  acres  of  non-mineral  land  for  a  mill 
site  upon  making  the  required  proofs,  and  paying 
five  dollars  per  acre  therefor. 

Mill  sites  may  be  applied  for  along  with  appli- 
cations for  mines  with  which  they  may  be  con- 
nected. 

Water-rights  for  mining  purposes  vest  by  pri- 
ority of  possession ;  and  all  patents  granted  are 
subject  to  such  vested  rights. 


12 


198 


OTHER  MINERALS. 


If  an  adverse  claimant  does  not  commence  suit 
within  the  proper  time — from  the  dishonesty  of  his 
attorney,  the  irregularity  of  the  mails  or  any  other 
cause — he  has  no  redress  through  the  Interior 
Department. 

Contestants  may  compromise,  and  then  a  new 
survey  will  be  ordered  conforming  with  the  lines 
agreed  upon  by  the  compromise. 

Deposits  of  borax,  auriferous  cement,  copper, 
diamonds  and  other  precious  stones,  fire-clay,  iron, 
kaoline,  limestone,  marble,  mica,  petroleum,-  plum- 
bago, slate,  salt  springs,  sulphur,  umber,  etc.,  may 
be  patented  under  the  mining  laws  upon  proof,  in 
each  specified  case  of  the  land  being  more  valu- 
able for  the  mineral  specified  than  for  agricultural 
purposes.  What  is  found  in  vein  deposits  must 
be  entered  under  the  provisions  of  the  law  govern- 
ing veins,  or  "  rock  in  place ;"  other  deposits  may 
be  entered  under  the  provisions  of  the  law  govern- 
ing the  entry  of  gold  placers. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WESTWARD    HO! — NOTES   BY   THE  WAY,    ETC. 

WESTWARD  ho,  over  the  snow-capped 
Rockies !  was  our  exclamation,  as  we 
left  our  pleasant  home  in  Pennsylvania, 
to  seek  our  fortune  and  cast  our  lot  for  a  time  in 
the  Far  West.  Yet  it  was  not  such  a  light  and 
joyous  exclamation  after  all ;  it  meant  a  world  of 
things  to  us ;  it  meant  leaving  a  happy  home  and 
loved  ones,  dear  parents  and  friends,  wife  and 
babes,  to  endure  the  hardships  and  suffer  the 
trials  of  a  long  and  tedious  journey  in  a  new  and 
unknown  country,  to  brave  the  dangers  of  wild 
camp-life  in  the  wilderness,  and  perhaps  added  to 
these  was  the  terror  of  molestation  from  Indians 
and  road  agents  up  among  the  mountains.  Thus, 
with  all  our  enthusiasm  down  deep  in  our  hearts, 
covered  by  this  outward  calm,  we  carried  a  load 
of  sadness. 

But  we  had  little  time  for  meditation  ;  our  train 
was  at  hand,  and  with  a  hearty  "good-bye"  and  a 
"last  look"  from  the  platform,  we  were  soon,  ere 
we  were  aware  of  it,  passing  out  of  sight  of  the 
grand  old  hills  of  Pennsylvania. 

To  us  living  in  the  Middle  States  it  seemed  as 

if  all  railroads  led  to  Chicago,  and  there  seems  to 

199 


2oO  GOING   WEST. 

be  hardly  a  single  route  that  does  not  lead  to  that 
city,  and  to  reach  it  people  will  only  need  to  take 
the  road  nearest  at  hand,  or,  in  other  words,  "  go  it 
blind,"  and  in  twenty-four  hours  they  will  be  roll- 
ing into  the  metropolis  of  the  lake  country  in  the 
West.  But  from  Chicago  to  the  Far  West  Eastern 
people  must  choose  a  route.  We  chose  the  Chica- 
go, Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad,  and  we  think 
it  offers  to  travelers  going  to  all  parts  of  the  Far 
West  a  greater  variety  of  routes  and  better  con- 
nections perhaps  than  any  other.  The  influx  of 
people  this  season  into  Kansas,  Colorado  and  the 
mining  regions  was  simply  enormous,  and  this 
road  to  accommodate  this  travel  had  already  been 
running  three  through  express  trains  daily  (with 
through  cars  attached,  without  change)  between 
Chicago  and  Council  Bluffs,  Omaha,  St.  Joseph, 
Atchison,  Topeka  and  Kansas  City.  They  had 
also  found  it  necessary  to  put  on  a  new  fast 
train  with  through  cars  between  Chicago  and 
Kansas  City,  reaching  its  destination  in  twenty 
hours,  making  in  all  four  through  express  trains 
daily. 

At  Chicago  we  took  one  of  Pullman's  sixteen- 
wheel  sleeping  cars,  and  lay  down  at  nine  P.  M., 
and  went  to  sleep ;  when  we  awoke  the  porter 
was  shaking  us,  and  exclaiming :  "  The  next  sta- 
tion is  Burlington — twenty  minutes  for  breakfast!" 
The  sun  was  shining  brightly,  and  it  was  not  far 
from   six  o'clock.     We   had   enjoyed  a    splendid 


«  HA  WKE  YE  MAN."  2 Q  j 

night's  rest,  and  were  two  hundred  and  seven 
miles  from  Chicago. 

Before  we  had  found  sufficient  time  to  make  all 
these  observations,  we  were  crossing  the  bridge 
that  here  spans  the  "  Father  of  Waters."  Surg- 
ing, swift  and  muddy,  it  rushes  beneath,  indeed  a 
mighty  river.  There  is  a  draw  in  this  bridge 
across  the  Mississippi,  to  allow  steamers  to 
pass. 

Soon  we  were  within  the  limits  of  Iowa,  and  the 
newsboys,  before  the  cars  had  fairly  stopped  at  the 
station,  were  crying :  "Morning  papers,"  "Daily 
Hawkey  e"  and  we  remembered  that  the  Hawkey e 
man,  who  here  resided,  had  become  famous  by 
means  of  this  self-same  sheet.  Burlington  is 
rather  pleasantly  situated  upon  a  bluff  which  here 
rises  in  places  to  considerable  height,  overlooking 
the  Mississippi,  and  has  a  population  of  about 
thirty  thousand. 

But  these  iron  horses  seem  never  to  tire  or 
grow  weary.  Ours  gave  us  little  time  to  study 
the  scenery  by  the  way,  and  we  were  soon  rushing 
along  again  over  a  rolling  prairie,  with  a  rich, 
black  soil,  and  here  and  there  patches  of  timber, 
and  frequently  traversed  by  streams  and  rivers. 
West  from  Burlington  our  road  lay  for  awhile 
through  the  apparently  richest  farming  country 
we  ever  saw.  Farmers  were  plowing  and  mark- 
ing for  corn,  and  the  sulky  plow,  as  well  as  the 
ones  of  older  pattern,   were  everywhere  in   use. 


202  LIVE-STOCK  DEALERS, 

All  along  we  saw  evidences  of  the  greatest  thrift 
and  enterprise. 

In  our  car  were  a  number  of  stock  men,  or  dro- 
vers, mostly  very  plainly  dressed  and  apparently 
hard-working  farmers  from  Iowa,  yet  each  wealthy 
in  the  number  of  their  cattle  and  swine,  as  com- 
pared to  many  of  our  Eastern  stock-growers.  We 
found  conversation  with  these  men  to  be  very  in- 
teresting, and  learned  not  a  little  that  was  new  to 
us  in  this  line.  These  men  had  been  to  the  Chi- 
cago stock-yards,  with  each  from  two  to  five  car- 
loads of  steers  apiece,  or  from  thirty  to  one  hun- 
dred head  of  cattle  each.  These  steers  average 
them  about  forty  dollars,  net;  therefore,  these 
men  were  taking  back  with  them  from  one  thou- 
sand two  hundred  to  four  thousand  dollars  to  the 
man.  These  trips  to  Chicago  they  were  con- 
stantly making ;  it  was  their  business,  followed 
every  week,  at  which  they  were  making  good 
profits.  They  had,  indeed,  "struck  a  lead,"  and 
will  probably  "find  it  rich."  They  told  us  the  re- 
ceipts in  Chicago  the  previous  day  had  been  un- 
usually large,  some  seven  thousand  head  having 
been  brought  into  the  stock-yards.  The  average 
receipts  are  said  to  be  from  three  to  five  thousand. 
The  cattle  raised  in  this  section  are  made  to  weigh 
much  heavier  than  average  Eastern  cattle.  They 
told  us  it  was  very  common  for  two-year  olds  to 
weigh  from  eleven  to  fourteen  hundred  pounds. 
They  had  just  seen  a  cow  in  the  stock-yards  that 


HOG  CHOLERA.  2OX 

weighed  two  thousand  one  hundred  pounds.  As 
we  heard  it  from  the  mouths  of  several,  it  was 
probably  true. 

We  learned,  also,  something  about  that  terrible 
pestilence  among  swine — the  hog-cholera.  One 
told  of  a  contract  made  by  a  neighbor  to  deliver 
sixty  hogs  at  a  certain  price  to  a  dealer  on  the 
following  Monday — this  being  on  Friday.  When 
the  time  arrived  only  one  of  the  hogs  was  alive, 
all  having  died  of  cholera  save  this  one,  and  five 
of  the  fifty-nine  having  died  the  very  day  the  con- 
tract was  made.  Another  stock  man  said  that  he 
had  "  learned  how  to  manage  the  business  ;"  that 
when  he  first  began  he  "was  green,"  and  lost  his 
hogs  by  letting  them  "die  on  his  hands;"  but  now, 
as  soon  as  he  found  they  "were  drooping,"  he 
shipped  them  at  once  and  "sold  them."  He  fur- 
thermore said  that  unknowing  ones  could  not  tell 
the  difference,  but,  with  his  experience,  he  could 
tell  by  appearances  when  the  disease  was  coming 
on.  Goodness  gracious !  we  thought,  is  this  the 
honor  of  Western  pork-raisers,  and  does  such  pork 
ever  get  into  the  barrels  we  buy  in  the  East 
branded  from  Chicago  packing-houses,  and  un- 
conscious of  its  being  any  but  the  sweetest  and 
purest  of  meat.  But  he  had  something  more  to 
tell  us.  When  the  cholera  rages  badly,  there  are 
parties  who  make  a  business  of  buying  the  car- 
casses of  the  dead  hogs,  gathering  them  up  in 
large  numbers  at  their  factories,  where  the  lard  is 


20a  ACROSS  THE  MISSOURI. 

extracted  for  grease ;  the  hogs  costing  mere  noth- 
ing, but  the  grease  selling  for  enough  to  allow 
them  to  realize  large  profits,  it  being  used  by  soap 
manufacturers,  and  also  for  machine  oil.  In  fact, 
when  purified  and  whitened,  it  is  difficult  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  pure  lard;  and  they  told  us,  more- 
over, that  in  refining  the  grease  operators  were  in 
the  habit  of  tasting  (?)  it  at  a  certain  stage  of  the 
process,  to  see  if  it  were  tasteless  and  free  from 
odor,  or  properly  "purified"  (pardon  us  for  threat- 
ening to  forbear  eating  pork  or  lard  hereafter.) 

But  we  now  had  to  bid  most  of.  our  drover 
friends  adieu,  as,  in  the  'meantime,  we  had  trav- 
ersed nearly  the  width  of  the  State,  and  were 
nearing  Council  Bluffs.  As  the  sun  was  sinking 
behind  the  western  horizon  we  crossed  the  muddy 
waters  of  the  Missouri  at  Council  Bluffs,  and  en- 
tered Omaha  at  about  eight  o'clock  P.  M.,  having 
come  five  hundred  and  two  miles  from  Chicago  in 
good  time,  and  being  not  a  tedious  or  tiresome 
journey  for  so  long  a  distance.  Looking  at  our 
watch,  which  was  Philadelphia  time,  we  found  it  to 
be  half-past  nine  o'clock,  or  an  hour  and  a  half  too 
fast.  In  going  westward  with  the  sun,  we  had 
lived  an  hour  and  a  half  for  which  the  calendar 
will  never  give  us  credit !  An  hour  and  a  half 
gai7ied,  in  which  we  have  lived  and  moved,  and 
yet  of  which  we  have  no  record,  save  the  hands  of 
the  faithful  time-piece  in  our  vest. 

Tired  and   dusty,  we    stopped    for   the    night. 


OMAHA.  20t- 

Omaha  is  nine  hundred  and  sixty-six  feet  above 
the  sea-level.  It  is  a  dusty,  dirty,  yet  busy  city. 
A  large  portion  is  well  built  with  brick  and  stone, 
and  contains  many  elegant  and  costly  edifices.  It 
has,  in  addition  to  its  retail  trade,  wholesale  houses 
representing  all  branches  of  business,  and  accord- 
ing to  her  board  of  trade  report,  does  a  wholesale 
business  of  fifty  millions  annually.  It  has  single 
firms  who  carry  stocks  of  goods  to  the  amount  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  which 
claim  to  do  a  business  of  one  and  a  half  millions 
annually.  The  city  also  has  large  manufactories 
of  various  kinds.  The  Omaha  Smelting  Works 
have  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dol- 
lars invested  in  grounds,  buildings  and  machinery ; 
they  employ  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men,  and  their  monthly  pay-roll 
amounts  to  ten  thousand  dollars.  During  the 
year  1879  this  firm  produced  in  fine  silver  and 
gold  from  the  ores  the  value  of  four  million  dollars 
besides  producing  nineteen  million  pounds  of  lead. 

We  had  little  time,  however,  to  view  the  many  I 
points  of  interest  in  the  city.  The  day  following 
our  arrival  we  boarded  a  Union  Pacific  train  of 
fifteen  or  more  passenger  coaches,  which  were 
crowded  and  packed  full  to  overflowing  with 
human  beings  of  every  grade,  and  station,  and  na- 
tionality, all  bound  toward -the  setting  sun.  Al- 
ready we  were  getting  within  the  exciting  influ- 
ences of  the  great  gold  and  silver  regions  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,     Here  wc  encountered  a  party 


205  VARIOUS  ROUTES. 

bound  for  the  Black  Hills — young  men,  enthusi- 
astic over  the  prospects  of  digging  gold  in  the 
golden  Hills.  A  little  later  we  overheard  a  gen- 
tleman conversing  with-  a  passenger  about  the 
silver  mines  of  Colorado.  The  party  said  he  pre- 
ferred the  San  Juan  country  to  Lcadville,  and  to 
use  his  words  :  "  There  you  have  a  vein  to  follow, 
while  at  Leadville  you  have  nothing  but  a  flat  de- 
posit to  be  worked  out." 

It  seems  appropriate  before  entering  upon  the 
history  of  the  great  gold  and  silver  regions  of  Colo- 
rado and  the  Black  Hills,  to  say  something  of  the 
routes  of  travel  by  which  they  can  be  reached. 

Eastern  people  who  live  far  away  from  these 
lines  of  travel  are  especially  interested  in  this  sub- 
ject, as  they  have  to  depend  for  their  information 
largely  upon  the  representations  and  advertise- 
ments of  the  various  companies  interested,  and  the 
experience  of  a  traveler  over  the  various  routes 
may  be  of  value. 

To  Western  people,  that  is,  people  living  on  the 
Pacific  Coast,  there  is  at  present  but  one  route — 
the  one  so  justly  termed  the  "  Highway  of  Nations  " 
— The  Union  Pacific  and  Central  Pacific  Railways 
to  Cheyenne ;  thence  by  the  Colorado  branches 
and  by  the  Black  Hill  stage  lines  to  their  various 
points  of  destination  To  Eastern  people  there  is 
now  three  practicable  routes  from  Chicago  to  Dead- 
wood  in  the  Black  Hills,  and  as  many  to  Colorado 
and  the  city  of  Denver. 


THE  THREE  ROUTES. 


207 


To  the  Black  Hills:  1st.  The  northern  route 
via  St.  Paul  and  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  to 
Bismark,  Dakota ;  thence  by  stage  about  245  miles 
to  Deadwood  City.  This  may  be  a  good  route  in 
summer,  but  is  open  to  objections  because  not 
open  all  the  year.  During  the  past  winter  there 
were  weeks  at  a  time  in  which  it  was  blockaded 
with  snow. 

2d.  The  Missouri  River  route  via  railroad  to 
Sioux  City  or  Yankton,  and  thence  by  steamboat 
to  Fort  Pierre;  thence  by  stage  about  160  miles 
to  Rapid  City ;  thence  to  Deadwood.  This  route 
presents  the  same  objections  as  the  former  one, 
since  Missouri  River  navigation  is  closed  in  winter. 

3d.  The  southern  route  via  the  Union  Pacific 
Railway  to  Sidney,  Nebraska;  thence  by  stage 
267  miles  to  Deadwood,  or  about  200  miles  to 
Custer  City  in  the  Southern  Hills.     . 

The  fare  is  the  same  ($49.25)  from  Chicago  to 
Deadwood  by  all  these  routes. 

The  latter  is  preferable  to  the  others,  being 
open  all  the  year,  and  being  much  quicker  in 
point  of  time  than  the  Missouri  River  route,  and 
making  somewhat  closer  connections  and  better 
time  than  the  northern  route.  Parties  choosing  to 
go  via  Cheyenne  instead  of  Sidney  can  do  so,  as 
we  believe  the  fare  is  the  same. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  Cus- 
ter City,  Hayward  and  Rapid  City,  of  the  Black 
Hills,  are  on  the  Sidney  stage  line,  and  that  only 


208  "  ROUTES  TO  DENVER, 

- 

camps  on  the  western  or  northern  portions  of  the 
Hills  are  on  the  Cheyenne  stage  line,  which  also 
passes  through  the  new  petroleum  region  of  the 
Hills  near  Jenney's  Stockade. 

To  Denver  and  the  mining  camps  of  Colorado 
there  are  also  three  good  routes :  The  Union  Pa- 
cific, Kansas  Pacific  and  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa 
Fe  Railways.  The  latter,  however,  enters  Colo- 
rado at  Pueblo  most  too  far  south  for  those  wish- 
ing to  visit  Denver  and  desiring  to  make  that  their 
starting  or  outfitting  point  for  the  mountains  and 
other  places  of  interest.  The  two  former  routes 
are  both  excellently  managed  roads  and  about 
equal  as  regards  time  and  accommodations.  It 
should  be  remembered,  however,  that  persons 
going  west  connect  with  the  Union  Pacific  at 
Omaha,  and  with  the  Kansas  Pacific  at  Kansas 
City  or  Leavenworth ;  and  parties  arriving  at 
these  points  will,  of  course,  choose  the  road  which 
is  at  hand  and  most  convenient. 

The  Union  Pacific  Company  offer  exceptional 
inducements  to  excursionists  and  others  during 
the  summer  season,  selling  excursion  tickets  for 
$3&>  good  until  October  31st,  going  west  from 
Omaha,  via  Union  Pacific  and  branches,  to  Denver 
and  Colorado  Springs,  and  return  east  via  Kansas 
Pacific  to  Kansas  City  or  Leavenworth,  or  vice 
versa,  starting  from  Kansas  City  over  the  routes 
named  and  returning  over  the  Union  Pacific  road 
to  Omaha.     This  offers  a  grand   opportunity  of 


THE  GREAT  PLATTE   VALLEY.  2Qg 

seeing  the  country,  giving  plenty  of  time  in  which 
to  return,  and  first-class  fare  by  the  way,  making  a 
journey  of  about  a  thousand  miles  for  the  moderate 
sum  named.  Tickets  are  also  sold  to  go  by  either 
route,  and  return  by  the  same,  at  the  same  rates. 

The  Union  Pacific,  the  pioneer  railway  of  the 
far  west,  with  its  many  branches  and  connections, 
is  under  most  excellent  management,  and  is  a 
model  road  in  its  treatment  of  passengers.  We 
were  surprised  at  the  agreeable  deportment  of  its 
conductors  all  along  our  journey,  for  in  place  of 
the  stern  and  gruff  officials,  so  common  in  the 
east,  we  found  everywhere  courteous  and  pleasant 
officers. 

Our  train,  after  passing  through  a  rolling  coun- 
try near  Omaha,  soon  brought  us  into  the  great 
Platte  Valley,  which  presents  to  the  eye  one  of  the 
smoothest,  most  level  plains  which  the  mind  could 
imagine.  Here  is  a  valley  from  ten  to  twenty 
miles  wide,  of  great  length  and  extent,  and  fre- 
quently, in  some  directions,  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach  there  is  not  a  tree  or  an  object  to  obstruct 
the  sight.  Fences  are  almost  unknown,  though 
occasionally  a  barbed-wire  fence  may  be  seen  in 
the  vicinity  of  towns.  In  the  older  portions  of  the 
country  a  few  trees  have  been  planted,  but  very  few 
are  to  be  seen  anywhere.  Timber  being  so  scarce 
and  lumber  undoubtedly  so  high,  the  houses  are 
small,  and  barns  there  are  none — at  least,  they 
are  few  and  far  between.     Small   sheds,  covered 


2IO  CATTLE  RANGES. 

with  straw,  take  their  places,  and  sod  houses  and 
"dug-outs"  are  the  substitutes  for  houses.  Vel^ 
frequently  corn-cribs  are  seen  filled  with  corn,  but 
without  roofs  or  cover  of  any  sort.  It  was  very 
dry  here,  and  we  were  told  it  had  been  six  months 
or  more  since  rain  had  fallen. 

Farther  west  we  reached  the  great  cattle  ranges, 
where  we  saw  vast  herds  of  cattle  and  sheep  graz- 
ing in  the  distance.  Water  appeared  to  be  very 
scarce,  and  of  very  poor  quality;  cattle  were  seen 
drinking  from  holes  in  which  the  water  was  oi 
inky  blackness.  The  soil  is  a  rich  black  loam,  like 
the  soil  of  Illinois  and  Iowa.  Windmills  are  al- 
ways in  sight,  used  in  pumping  water  for  stock 
at  one  point  we  saw  a  large  one,  evidently  used 
in  grinding  grain.  Hence  it  seems  that  this  an- 
cient invention  has  become  new  again,  and  is  of 
very  practical  utility  in  more  senses  than  one. 

"  Prairie  Schooners  " — The  Great  Cattle  Ranges. 

Soon  the  white  "  Prairie  Schooners "  began  to ! 
come  into  view,  all  sailing  westward.  We  passed 
many  of  these  canvas-covered  wagon  trains  in 
companies  of  three  or  four,  all  pointed  toward  the 
setting  sun.  Inwardly  we  exclaimed,  "All  the 
world  is  going  West!"  All  day  long  over  the 
same  level  plain,  and  all  night  the  same,  onb 
lighted  up  by  frequent  prairie  fires,  of  which  w< 
were  never  out  of -sight,  sometimes  lighting  up  th< 
heavens  with  a  lurid  glare,  presenting  a  grand  an< 


LITTLE  CUL  TIVA  TION.  2  j  j 

almost  frightful  spectacle.  Daylight  found  us  at 
Ogalalla,  three  hundred  and  forty-two  miles  from 
Omaha.  Here  it  was  that  the  Union  Pacific  train 
was  robbed  a  couple  of  years  ago,  by  a  daring  and 
desperate  band  of  highwaymen,  of  considerable 
treasure  and  express  matter.  A  great  change  had 
come  over  the  face  of  the  country.  Instead  of  the 
plowed  fields  and  green  meadows  farther  east, 
there  were  very  few  evidences  of  civilization.  The 
grass  was  parched  and  dry,  covered  by  shifting 
sands  and  alkalies.  Still,  the  herds  of  cattle  in 
the  distance  had  grown  larger.  The  plain  was 
everywhere  marked  with  cow-paths,  crooked  and 
winding,  made  by  the  cattle  passing  to  and  fro  to 
water;  occasionally  the  bleached  skeletons  of 
cattle  were  seen,  white  and  decayed.  This  is  the 
section  where  the  cattle  are  turned  loose  in  winter 
to  shift  for  themselves  and  seek  their  own  subsist- 
ence ;  some  die,  but  it  is  said  the  majority  come 
out  in  the  spring  all  right.  Look  where  you  might, 
on  either  side  there  were  always  cattle  in  sight  in 
this  section.  Frequently  we  saw  antelopes  gal- 
loping away  from  the  track  across  the  plain. 

About  eight  o'clock,  A.  M.,  we  reached  Sidney, 
Nebraska,  distant  from  Omaha  four  hundred  and 
fourteen  miles,  and  its  elevation  being  four  thou- 
sand seventy-three  feet — we  having  raised  in 
elevation  since  leaving  Omaha  over  three  thou- 
sand feet,  so  gradually  as  to  be  hardly  perceptible. 
Sidney  has  a  population  of  about  one  thousand. 


2I2  STAGE-RIDE   TO  DEADWOOD. 

From  here  the  Sidney  and  Black  Hills  stage  line 
runs  daily  stages  to  Deadwood,  two  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  miles  distant,  making  the  trip  in  about 
fifty-six  hours.  Fare  to  Deadwood,  thirty  dollars; 
by  through  ticket  much  less.  We  saw  this  stage 
loading  with  baggage  at  the  stage  depot,  prepar- 
ing for  a  start  to  the  Hills ;  although  apparently 
already  overloaded  with  boxes,  trunks,  valises  and 
packages  of  every  kind,  they  were  still  tying  on 
mail  sacks  and  luggage  in  every  conceivable  place 
where  it  was  possible  to  fasten  a  bundle.  The 
place  has  become  of  considerable  importance  as  a 
freighting  and  outfitting  point  for  the  Black  Hills 
gold-fields,  and  has  large  forwarding  houses  and 
freighting  companies  to  supply  the  Black  Hills 
trade. 

The  stage-ride  from  the  Union  Pacific  Railway, 
at  Sidney,  to  Deadwood,  can  hardly  be  called  a 
pleasure  trip,  and  over  a  dreary  and  barren  plain 
through  furious  clouds  of  dust,  filling  eyes,  and  ears, 
and  nose,  it  soon  becomes  very  monotonous,  and 
a  ride  of  fifty  consecutive  hours  by  day  and  night 
becomes  tiresome  in  the  extreme.  Yet,  with  all, 
it  is  a  new  and  novel  experience,  full  of  adventures 
to  those  who  have  never  taken  such  a  journey, 
and  whirling  around  a  sharp  precipice  on  a  narrow 
track  after  a  four  or  six-horse  team,  will  perhaps 
cause  no  little  concern  as  to  safety,  and,  perhaps, 
much  admiration  for  the  skill  which  can  guide  the 
leaders    so    dexterously.     If,    in    addition    to    the 


RA  TES  OF  FARE.  2 1  3 

other  trials  of  the  journey,  the  route  be  infested 
with  "road  agents,"  or  stage  robbers  (as  was  this 
route  at  one  time,  an  account  of  which  will  be 
given),  the  tax  on  the  nerves  is  a  severe  one. 

But  when  the  vicinity  of  the  Black  Hills  is 
reached,  and  the  barren  plains  are  succeeded  by 
noble  streams  and  rich  soil,  and  luxuriant  grasses 
take  the  place  of  alkalies  and  sage  brush,  it  is  a 
most  refreshing  change. 

At  Rapid  City,  which  is  about  fifty  miles  from 
Deadwood,  the  stage  reaches  a  rich  valley,  with 
good  farms  and  ranches,  and  fields  of  waving 
grain.  Numerous  houses  dot  the  plain,  and  an 
appearance  of  civilization,  which  is  a  glad  remin- 
der of  Eastern  homes  and  farm-houses,  is  shown 
upon  every  side. 

About#thirty-two  miles  farther  on  the  stage  halts 
at  Fort  Meade,  the  Government  military  post, 
situated  in  a  lovely  valley  near  Bear  Butte  Creek, 
and  eighteen  miles  beyond,  after  traversing  the 
roughest  and  most  picturesque  part  of  our  route, 
the  metropolis  of  the  Black  Hills,  Deadwood,  is 
reached. 

Bates  of  Fare— Via  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  to  Deadwood. 

From  Cheyenne  to  Deadwood $40  00 


Denver 
Sidney 
Ogden 
Omaha 
Chicago 
St.  Louis 
13 


47  00 
40  00 
70  00 
45  00 
49  25 
49  25 


2  j  4  ^  Z3&S  OF  FARE. 

From  Louisville  to  Deadwood,  via  St.  Louis $59  25 

"  Louisville  "  "         via  Chicago 60  50 

"  Indianapolis  to  H         56  00 

"  Cincinnati       "  " 58  95 

"  Pittsburg         "  "         61  25 

"  Buffalo  **  "         63  25 

«  Cleveland       "  "         , 59  25 

"  Detroit  "  "         57  25 

"  Boston  «  "         70  25 

"  New  York      "  "         6925 

"  Philadelphia  "  "         67  50 

"  Baltimore        "  " 66  75 

"  Washington    "  "         66  75 


Distances  and  Fares  from  Sidney  to  Points  in  the  Black  Hills 
and  En  Route. 


SIDNEY   TO 


& 

jfi 
i 

1  i 

O  ci 

10 

10 

$2  00 

#2  00 

II 

21 

2  2.5 

4  00 

18 

39 

2  25 

5  CO 

12 

51 

2  00 

7  00 

18 

69 

2  25 

9  00 

13 

82 

2  25 

11  00 

13 

95 

2  25 

13  00 

13 

108 

2  25 

14  00 

6 

"3 

1  00 

15  00 

J5 

129 

3  °° 

10 

139 

2  00 

20 

159 

4  00 

17 

176 

3  75 

30  00 

12 

188 

2  50 

12 

200 

2  50 

10 

210 

2  00 

II 

221 

2  50 

35  00 

is 

234 

2  75 

11 

245 

2  50 

10 

255 

2  50 

40  00 

10 

265 

2  00 

40  CO 

Water  Holes , 

Mud  Spring , 

Camp  Clarke,  Platte  River, 

Red  Willow 

Snake  Creek 

Half- Way  Hollow , 

Running  Water , 

White  Clay 

Red  Cloud  Agency 

Big  Cottonwood 

Pond  Creek 

Horse  Head 

Buffalo  Gap 

French  Creek 

Battle  Creek 

Spring  Creek 

Rapid  City 

Spring  Valley 

Hazen's  Ranche 

Crook  City 

Deadwood 


BASALTIC  COLUMNS  IN  THE  GREAT  NORTH-WEST. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

BLACK  HILLS — DIVISION  INTO  COUNTIES — STREAMS — RIVERS — CREEKS-— 
SCENERY  —  MOUNTAINS  —  PEAKS  —  FRENCH  CREEK  —  SPRING  CREEK — 
RAPID  CREEK — BOX  ELDER  CREEK — BEAR  BUTTE  CREEK — WHITEWOOD 
CREEK — SPEARFISH  RIVER — GAME,  ETC. 

Black  Hills  Scenery,  Streams,  etc. 

THE  Black  Hills  proper  embraces  ail  that 
country  lying  between  the  "  North  Chey- 
enne," or  "  Bellefourche"  River,  on  the 
north,  the  Cheyenne  River  on  the  south,  and  Wyo- 
ming Territory  on  the  west.  These  two  rivers 
running  eastward  unite  and  form  the  Big  Chey- 
enne, making,  with  the  Wyoming  Territory  line,  an 
irregular  triangle  containing  between  five  and  six 
thousand  square  miles  of  territory,  out  of  which 
three  counties  of  Dakota  have  been  formed.  The 
western  or  end  lines  of  these  counties  lie  next  to 
Wyoming,  and  their  longest  or  side  lines  run  due 
east  and  west,  Custer  County  on  the  south,  of 
which  Custer  City  will  be  the  county  seat,  Pen- 
nington County  lying  north  of  it,  of  which  Rapid 
City  is  the  capital,  and  Lawrence  County  the  far- 
thest north,  lying  next  to,  and  bounded  by  the 
Bellefourche  River  on  the  north,  of  which  Dead- 
wood  is  the  county  seat.  These  are  the  local 
subdivisions  of  the  Black  Hills  country. 

215 


2 1 6  PROMINENT  LAND  MARKS. 

Extending  through  these  counties  from  north  to 
south  a  distance  of  about  seventy  miles  is  a  series 
of  high  and  rugged 

Mountains) 

which  attain  their  highest  elevation  on  the  north- 
west or  near  the  Wyoming  Territory  line.  These 
mountains  rise  to  an  elevation  of  from  five  to  seven 
thousand  feet  above  sea  level.  But  the  country 
is  so  broken,  and  they  are  so  nearly  of  equal 
height,  that  excepting  one  or  two  peaks,  no  one 
mountain  seems  to  rise  much  above  the  others. 

Harney's  Peak,  in  Custer  County,  attains  an  ele- 
vation of  seven  thousand  four  hundred  feet. 
Terry's  Peak  and  Crow,  in  Lawrence  County,  reach 
a  height  of  seven  thousand  two  hundred  feet  and 
six  thousand  two  hundred  feet  respectively,  and 
are  noted  peaks.  Bald  Mountain,  a  little  south- 
west of  Deadwood  and  Bear  Butte  Peak,  about 
fourteen  miles  north-east  of  the  same,  are  promi- 
nent land  marks. 

This  series  of  mountains,  which  occupy  an  extent 
of  country  about  ninety  miles  long  by  sixty  wide 
running  north-west  and  south-east  through  the 
counties  named,  have  a  central  or  granitic  portion 
within  the  limestone  belt  which  sorrounds  them  at 
their  outer  "  mesa"  of  about  seventy  miles  long  by 
thirty  to  forty  wide,  irregular  in  shape  but  within 
which  all  the  gold  and  silver  deposits  are  found. 

As  before  stated,  these  mountains  attain  their 


W 


ik...:#. 


-r        t^  ^r*^ 


PEAKS  ON  THE  GREENE  RIVER,  IN  WESTERN  WYOMING. 


CUSTER  CITY. 


217 


highest  general  elevation  on  their  western  rim, 
and  hence,  most  of  the  streams  of  the  hills  flow 
in  an  eastern  direction,  and  empty  into  the  Chey- 
enne River. 

Some  of  these  streams,  in  cutting  their  way  out 
through  the  eastern  mesa  or  foot-hills,  have  worn 
deep  canons  and  wonderful  gorges  through  the 
mountains  on  their  way  to  the  plains  below. 

After  passing  out  on  the  plain  and  reaching  the 
dry  and  thirsty  soil,  most  of  these  beautiful  streams 
become  swallowed  up  by  the  thirsty  sands  and  are 
lost.  They  sink  beneath  the  surface  and  with  one 
exception  only  (Rapid  Creek)  they  fail  to  reach 
the  river  during  the  summer  season. 

French  Creek. 

French  Creek,  in  Custer  County,  of  three  hundred 
miner's  inches,  rises  on  the  western  rim  and  flows 
eastward  for  fifteen  miles  through  a  beautiful,  ele- 
vated park  country,  then  plunges  into  a  deep  and 
rugged  canon,  from  which  it  does  not  emerge  for 
twenty  miles,  until  it  reaches  the  plain  and  soon 
sinks  out  of  sight.  Custer  City  is  situated  on  this 
stream  at  a  point  before  it  leaves  the  beautiful 
park  country  we  have  described. 

French  Creek  is  well  supplied  with  timber,  and 
the  soil  in  the  park  country  named  is  well  adapted 
to  agriculture.  The  stream  becomes  very  small 
during  the  summer,  some  seasons  very  little  water 
running  in  it  during  the  dry  months  of  the  year. 


2l8  RAPID  CITY. 

Considerable  gold  is  found  along  the  stream, 
north  of  French  Creek,  and  in  Pennington  County- 
is  Spring  Creek,  of  seven  hundred  miner's  inches. 
It  runs  eastward  by  a  tortuous  course  through 
deep  and  narrow  valleys  and  rugged  canons,  and 
finally  cuts  its  way  through  the  great  eastern  mesa 
and  is  lost  on  the  plain.  With  a  fine,  deep  bed,  it 
carries  no  water  out  of  the  hills.  Gold  is  found 
in  considerable  quantities  along  this  stream  and 
its  tributaries,  and  it  has  ample  water  for  sluicing. 
It  offers  but  little  inducement  to  the  agriculturist, 
the  valleys  being  small  and  the  country  very  moun- 

Springr  and  Rapid  Creeks. 

tainous.  Rockerville  is  situated  a  few  miles  from  its 
banks  and  the  town  of  Sheridan  on  this  stream. 
Pennington  County  has  also  two  other  large 
streams,  Rapid  Creek  and  the  Boxelder.  The. 
former,  of  two  thousand  miner's  inches,  is  one  of  the 
largest  streams  in  the  Black  Hills,  and  the  only  one 
that  cuts  through  the  eastern  rim  which  escapes  the 
thirsty  secondary,  and  pours  eastward  across  the 
plain  to  the  Cheyenne  River.  Many  small  streams 
unite  to  form  it,  and  among  these,  Little  Rapid 
and  Castle  Creeks  are  the  most  prominent.  The 
gold  diggings  on  Castle  Creek  have  been  among 
the  richest  of  the  Black  Hills.  Rapid  Creek  also 
passes  through  a  deep  canon  on  its  way  out  to  the 
plain.  Rapid  City  is  situated  on  this  stream  at  a 
point  whence  leaving  the  canon  the  stream  enters 


GALENA.  2 1 Q 

a  lovely  valley  or  plain  which  offers  one  of  the 
choicest  spots  in  this  country  for  the  settler.  There 
are  many  other  towns  on  this  stream  and  its 
branches,  among  them,  Rochford,  on  Little  Rapid 
Creek,  and  Castleton,  on  Castle  Creek.  From 
source  to  mouth  it  is  a  fine  stream  and  probably 
the  most  valuable  for  all  purposes  of  any  in  the 
Hills. 

The  Boxelder  Creek, 

of  three  hundred  miner's  inches,  lies  a  few  miles 
north  of  Rapid  Creek  and  runs  eastward  parallel  to 
it.  It  has  some  silver  and  copper  deposits  within  the 
territory  it  drains,  but  no  gold  discoveries  nor 
towns  of  importance  along  its  banks. 

Bear  Butte  Creek, 

Bear  Butte  Creek  rises  in  the  northern  rim  of 
the  hills  in  Lawrence  County,  a  few  miles  south 
of  Deadwood,  and  runs  north-east  close  to  the 
mountain  from  which  it  takes  its  name  and  empties 
into  the  Bellefourche. 

The  town  of  Galena  and  the  rich  silver  deposits 
there,  are  on  the  headwaters  of  this  stream,  also 
the  Government  Military  Post  of  Fort  Meade, 
and  Sturgis  City  further  down  the  stream.  It 
carries  but  a  few  miner's  inches  of  water. 

,  Whitewood  Creek, 

in  Lawrence  County,  rises  within  the  northern 
mesa  in  the  vicinity  of  Bald  Mountain  and  Terry's 


220 


SPEARFISH  CITY. 


Peak,  and  runs  northward  into  the  Bellefourche.  It 
has  several  small  branches,  the  principal  one  being 
Deadwood  Creek,  from  which  that  city  took  its 
name,  and  which  stream  unites  with  the  White- 
wood,  within  the  limits  of  the  city.  This  section 
was  formerly  heavily  timbered  with  pine  and  other 
woods  along  this  stream,  and  was  not  mentioned 
in  the  report  of  the  expedition  of  1875.  The  de- 
posits of  gold  in  this  gulch  was  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  great  rush  into  this  section  in  1876. 

We  have  only  space  to  mention  one  more 
stream  of  the  many  remaining  ones  of  the  Black 
Hills. 

Spearfish  Creek  Scenery. 

The  Spearfish,  also  in  Lawrence  County,  is  a 
stream  perhaps  even  larger  than  Rapid  Creek.  It 
rises  in  the  northern  mesa  in  the  vicinity  of  Bald 
Mountain,  runs  north  for  many  miles  through  the 
grandest,  deepest  canon  of  the  Hills,  a  chasm  in 
many  places  not  less  than  two  thousand  feet  deep, 
from  which  it  emerges  out  on  a  valley  or  "bottom" 
of  the  richest  soil  more  than  a  mile  wide,  the  finest 
agricultural  valley  of  this  county.  This  valley  is 
about  seven  miles  long  to  where  the  Spearfish 
empties  into  the  Redwater  River,  which,  ten  miles 
farther  on,  empties  into  the  Bellefourche.  Spear- 
fish City  is  on  this  stream,  and  is  the  centre  of  the 
most  flourishing  agricultural  portion  of  the  Black 
Hills — no  gold  is  found  along   this   stream.     A 


SPECIMENS  OF  BASALTIC  COLUMNS. 


MA  GN IF  ICE  NT  SCENE  R  K  2  21 

project  is  planned  for  taking  water  from  the  head- 
waters of  this  creek  and  carrying  it  in  a  ditch 
fifteen  or  twenty  miles  to  the  vicinity  of  Dead- 
wood,  for  the  purpose  of  working  the  placer  mines 
by  hydraulic  process.  However,  it  is  not  yet 
completed. 

There  are  a  few  gold  deposits  on  the  head- 
waters of  streams  flowing  through  the  northern 
mesa,  but  the  streams  are  small  ones — Potato 
Gulch  and  Bear  Gulch  are  among  these,  and  from 
these  gulches  some  gold  has  been  extracted. 

The  scenery  along  some  of  these  streams  and 
deep  mountain  gorges  is  magnificent.  Foaming, 
dashing  streams  of  clear,  cool  water  rushing 
through  canons  so  deep  and  narrow  as  almost  to 
exclude  the  sunlight,  except  at  noon,  whose  sides 
are  so  precipitous  as  to  offer  no  foothold  for 
man  or  beast,  are  common  scenes  in  the  Black 
Hills.     A  specimen  of  these  appears  opposite. 

Beautiful  parks  between  hills,  covered  with 
luxuriant  grasses  and  carpeted  with  lovely  wild 
flowers  are  frequent  on  the  headwaters  of  French 
and  Spring  Creeks.  To  the  tourist  or  pleasure- 
seeker  they  offer  the  grandest  of  sights  and  one 
of  the  fairest  resorts  in  the  world. 

Game. 

When  the  Black  Hills  were  discovered  they  were 
bountifully  supplied  with  game,  and  elk,  deer,  bear, 
antelope  and  smaller  game  were  found  in  abund- 


222 


GAME  DIMINISHED, 


ance.  No  doubt  the  genuine  sportsman  can  still 
find  here  plenty  of  opportunities  to  try  his  skill,  but 
unquestionably  the  sturdy  miners  have  long  since 
driven  away  much  of  the  larger  game  or  killed  it 
for  food. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DEADWOOD  CITY — EARLY  HISTORY — LAYING  OUT  THE  TOWN — THE  FIRST 
CABIN — A  BIG  SALE  OF  GOODS — THE  GREAT  FIRE — RISING  FROM  ITS 
RUINS — REMARKABLE  ENERGY  IN  REBUILDING — DEADWOOD  REBUILT — 
THE  FIRST  POST-OFFICE — STAMPS  SOLD — MONEY-ORDERS  ISSUED — 
COST  OF  LIVING  IN  DEADWOOD — DEADWOOD  MARKET  REPORT — DEAD- 
WOOD' S  WATER- WORKS — RENTS  AND  TOWN  LOTS — TOWN-SITE  CON- 
TROVERSY— TITLES  TO  PROPERTY — DECISION  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER 
OF  THE  GENERAL  LAND  OFFICE  AT  WASHINGTON. 

Deadwood  City— Early  History. 

ON  the  25th  day  of  April,  1876,  in  a  wild 
and  picturesque  gorge,  nearly  five  thou- 
sand feet  above  sea  level,  the  town  of 
Deadwood  was  laid  out,  at  the  junction  of  White- 
wood  and  Deadwood  Creeks. 

Some  parties  claim  that  a  man  named  "Fyler" 
was  instrumental  in  laying  out  the  embryo  city. 
Others  say  that  Craven  Lee,  Isaac  Brown,  Noah 
Seiver,  James  Hamilton,  E.  Durham,  Charles  Bar- 
ber, J.  J.  Williams  and  "Red"  Young  laid  out  the 
town,  using  a  lariat  rope  instead  of  a  surveyor's 
chain  for  a  measure.  However,  the  town  was  laid 
out,  and  the  first  house,  a  pine-log  cabin,  was  built 
by  Lee  and  Brown,  about  the  first  of  May,  and  by 
the  middle  of  June  the  place  had  grown  into  a 
bustling  town.  At  that  time  the  buildings  were 
of  the  poorest  character,  nothing,  in  fact,  but  tents 

223 


224 


MARVELOUS  GROWTH. 


and  log  cabins ;  even  the  stores  and  business 
places  were  of  the  same  kind.  Everything  bore 
the  aspect  of  a  mere  camp  in  the  woods.  Stumps 
and  trees  blocked  the  streets  in  every  direction ; 
a  forest  had  just  previously  covered  the  site. 
Gradually  the  timber  disappeared,  and  by  the  first 
of  July  three  steam  saw-mills  were  turning  out 
about  twenty  thousand  feet  of  lumber  daily,  and 
were  not  sufficient  to  supply  the  demand  for  build- 
ing and  mining  purposes.  Every  industry  seemed 
to  prosper.  Merchants  who  went  there  in  1876 
and  early  in  1877,  taking  with  them  stocks  of 
goods,  disposed  of  them  at  fabulous  prices.  One 
man  took  into  the  place  in  his  own  wagons  goods 
which  he  bought  in  Cheyenne  for  three  thousand 
dollars,  and  sold  them  as  fast  as  he  could  open 
them  from  the  boxes,  receiving  for  them  about  ten 
thousand  dollars. 

The  village  of  1876  grew  into  a  town  in  1877, 
and  a  rushing  city  in  1879.  Handsome  public 
and  private  buildings  were  erected  on  every  hand; 
five  hundred  shops  and  mercantile  houses,  some 
of  them  carrying  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  goods,  were  scarcely  sufficient  at 
this  time  to  do  the  business  of  the  place.  There 
were  three  daily  papers,  three  banks,  hotels  and 
restaurants  almost  without  number,  three  theatres, 
four  churches,  and  a  fine  graded  school-house. 
On  September  25th,  1879,  Deadwood  had  put  on 
metropolitan  airs,  and  boasted  of  over  five  thou- 


A  CLEAN  SWEEP. 


225 


sand  inhabitants.     By  the  next  day  the  fire-fiend 
had  leveled  it  to  the  ground. 

The  Great  Fire. 

About  half-past  one  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of 
September  26th,  a  fire  broke  out  in  a  bakery  on 
Sherman  Street.  The  building  and  those  adjoin- 
ing it  were  of  the  most  inflammable  character — 
wooden  buildings,  made  of  yellow  pine.  The  wind 
blew  a  gale,  and  sparks  flew  in  showers,  setting  fire 
to  everything  they  touched.  The  flames  roared 
through  the  business  portion,  and  on  to  the  private 
residences  along  the  hillsides,  sparing  nothing  in 
its  course. 

The  startled  citizens  had  barely  time  to  escape 
with  their  lives,  many  of  them  saving  only  the 
scanty  clothing  which  they  caught  up  as  they  fled. 
The  blowing  up  of  some  houses  with  giant  powder 
stopped  the  fire's  devastating  career  at  China 
Town,  and  the  tearing  down  of  other  buildings  at 
the  intersection  of  Pine  and  Sherman  Streets 
checked  it  there.  But  it  was  too  late.  From  the 
corner  of  Pine  and  Sherman  Streets  to  China 
Town,  an  area  of  nearly  half  a  mile  long  by  a 
quarter  wide,  every  house,  whether  brick  or  frame, 
with  the  exception  of  about  a  dozen  small  fire- 
proofs,  was  gone.  In  three  hours  from  the  time 
the  fire  began  there  was  not  a  dry-goods,  grocery, 
or  boot  and  shoe  store ;  not  a  hotel,  theatre,  bank 
or  printing-office  left  in  what  had  been  the  main 


226  REB  UILDING. 

business  part  of  Deadwood.  The  destruction  was 
complete  and  the  loss  total.  Nearly  three  hun- 
dred buildings  and  their  contents  were  swept 
away,  and  daylight  dawned  upon  two  thousand 
houseless  and  homeless  people,  perching  around 
half  naked  on  the  bleak  mountain  crags,  with 
heaps  of  ashes  and  cinders  as  their  only  posses- 
sions on  earth.  Thus,  in  an  incredible  short  space 
of  time,  over  one  and  a  half  million  dollars*  worth 
of  property  was  destroyed,  on  which  there  was 
scarcely  any  insurance. 

But,  phcenix-like,  the  ruined  city,  in  a  few  short 
months,  as  if  by  magic,  has  arisen  from  its  ashes. 
It  is  said  that  merchants,  while  their  buildings  were 
still  in  flames  on  that  memorable  morning,  were 
galloping  out  before  daylight. to  the  saw-mills  to 
order  lumber  and  materials  for  building,  and  that 
the  foundations  of  new  structures  were  lain  while 
the  stones  were  still  hot  from  the  effects  of  the 
fire.  A  month  later  a  Deadwood  paper  stated: 
"The  whole  place  is  a  teeming  hive  of  human  bees 
without  a  drone.  The  streets  are  blockaded  with 
wagons,  teams,  lumber,  brick,  mortar  and  throngs 
of  sturdy  laborers.  Every  man  you  meet  has  his 
coat  off  and  working  tools  in  his  hands.  The 
whole  air  is  filled  with  the  clatter  of  hammers  and 
saws.  Men  with  lanterns  swinging  on  the  dirt 
banks  beside  them,  dig  away  all  night  long  on  ex- 
cavations for  cellars  and  foundations  ;  and  carpen- 
ters, with  miners'  lamps  on  their  hat-fronts,  nail  on 


IMMENSE  BUSINESS.  227 

boards  and  laths  and  shingles  at  midnight  as 
busily  as  noonday.  Sundays,  as  well  as  week 
days,  the  din  and  rush  go  on  without  ceasing. 
The  whole  population  exchanging,  lending  and 
helping  each  other;  law-offices  in  bar-rooms, 
courts  held  in  shanties,  and  newspapers  inter- 
changing type,  labor  and  material.  Amid  all  the 
loss  and  desolation  there  has  been  no  wrangling 
about  titles,  though  every  record  was  destroyed, 
and  possession  is  almost  the  sole  evidence  of  pro- 
prietorship ;  no  disorder,  no  whining,  no  sign  of 
discouragement.  And  to-day  Deadwood,  nearly 
rebuilt,  stands  forth  the  cheeriest,  pluckiest  little 
city  in  all  Christendom.,, 

Deadwood  Rebuilt. 

At  the  present  time  (six  months  afterward)  but 
very  few  traces  of  the  great  fire  remain.  The 
new  town  which  has  arisen  is  an  improvement  on 
the  old  one,  the  buildings  are  larger,  finer  and 
better  made,  and  business  has  in  every  way  re- 
sumed its  natural  channels. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  vast  transactions  going 
on  in  this  little  mountain  city:  As  early  as  1877 
one  bank  did  a  business  of  from  twenty-five  to 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  per  day,  in  buying 
gold  dust  and  selling  exchange,  and  one  hotel  at 
this  time  fed  as  many  as  one  thousand  people  in- 
side of  twenty-four  hours ;  single  firms  were  selling 
goods  to  the  amount  of  from  seven  to  ten  thou- 


2  28  POST-OFFICE  BUSINESS. 

sand  dollars  per  month.  This  business,  of  course, 
became  divided  up  later,  as  the  town  filled  up  and 
competition  became  greater,  but  on  the  whole,  the 
trade  of  the  city  largely  increased. 

Deadwood  is  now  the  distributing  point  for 
many  outlying  towns  and  mining  camps,  and  of 
the  twenty  million  pounds  of  freight  which  arrived 
in  the  Black  Hills  during  1879,  probably  over  two- 
thirds  of  it  came  to  Deadwood,  and  was  distributed 
from  there. 

The  Post-office— Cost  of  Liying. 

The  first  post-office  was  erected  by  R.  O.  Adams. 
The  business  grew  rapidly,  and  a  larger  building 
soon  had  to  be  provided,  and  about  six  hundred 
lock-boxes  were  put  in  the  new  building.  At  pre- 
sent a  daily  mail  is  received  from  each  of  the 
routes  via  Sidney,  Cheyenne  and  Bismarck,  and 
a  weekly  from  Fort  Pierre.  About  six  hundred 
pounds  of  mail  matter  is  brought  in  daily  by 
these  stages,  and  about  eight  thousand  letters 
are  received  every  twenty-four  hours.  Two  hun- 
dred dollars'  worth  of  stamps  are  sold  daily ;  six 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars'  worth  of  money-orders 
issued,  and  about  five  hundred  dollars'  worth  sent 
in  registered  letters  daily.  The  amount  of  money- 
orders  issued  in  1878  was  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  thousand  nine  hundred  and  seven  dollars  and 
fifty-seven  cents. 

The  cost  of  living  in  Deadwood  is  from  eight  to 


FA  JVC  Y  PRICES.  229 

twelve  dollars  per  week  at  the  principal  hotels  or 
boarding-houses.  Prices  of  provisions  of  all  kinds 
are,  of  course,  much  higher  than  in  the  East,  as 
the  cost  of  freighting  them  over  such  long  dis- 
tances adds  from  four  to  six  cents  per  pound  to 
everything  brought  in.  The  average  price  of  flour 
during  1879  was  about  eleven  dollars  per  barrel; 
potatoes,  one  dollar  per  bushel ;  eggs,  forty  cents 
per  dozen ;  bacon,  sixteen  to  eighteen  cents  per 
pound ;  hams,  seventeen  cents  per  pound ;  pork, 
per  barrel,  thirty  dollars ;  corn,  about  one  dollar 
and  ninety  cents  per  bushel,  and  oats  about  one 
dollar  and  forty  cents  per  bushel,  wholesale  prices. 
Owing  to  the  increase  in  home  productions,  pro- 
duce is  much  cheaper  than  formerly. 

Below  will  be  found  a  list  of  Deadwood  retail 
prices,  July  6th,  1879: 

Deadwood  Market  Report. 

PROVISIONS. 


Potatoes per  lb.,  i}£ 

Beans,  Navy "  8 

Cheese per  lb.,  20@25 

Butter,  common 15  (a),  20 

"       good  ranch 25(^30 


Eggs perdoz.,  35 

Honey per  lb.,  30 

Lard,  in  pails "        20 

Bacon,  common  ..per  lb.,  I2^@i4 
Hams,  smoked "  17 


CASE   GOODS 

Peaches 2-lb.  can,  25 

Corn.... "         30 

Strawberries "         35 

Raspberries "         25 

Tomatoes lt        25 


Pine  Apple  2-lb.  can,  30 

Jellies ?*         50 

Star  Lobsters i-lb.  can,  30 

Peas 2-lb.  can,  25 

Saimon i-lb.  can,  30 


DRIED   FRUIT. 

Apples per  lb.,  17  I  Blackberries per  lb.,  35 

Peaches **  20  |  Cherries "        35 

Currants "  17     Raspberries "         50 

Prunes "  17  |  Kaisins "        30 


23O  PUBLIC  WORKS. 


TEAS. 

Imperial per  lb.  65 

Hyson a       65 

Young  Hyson "       65 


Japan per  lb.,  30^60 

Green «        6o@#i 

Oolong "  65 


COFFEE. 

Rio,  good per  lb.,  30  I  Rio,  prime  to  C per  lb.,  28 

"     common  to  fair.. per  lb.,  25@28  |  Java,  Old  Government...       «'        40 

OILS  AND  PAINTS. 

Head  Light per  gal,  $1.00  I  Linseed  Oil per  gal.,  #1.50 

Lard  Oil "  1.30  |  White  Lead per  lb.,  i6>£ 

SUGARS. 

Cuba per  lb.,  18      I  New  York  Coffee,  A per  lb.  18 

New  York  Crushed...      "        22^  |  "  Extra,  C *      16 

SYRUPS. 
New  York  Syrup per  gal.,  $1.25  |  New  York  Drips... 5-gal.  kegs,  $6.50 

FISH. 
White per  kit,  $2.50  |  Mackerel per  kit,  $2.75 

BREADSTUFFS. 

Flour,  State per  100,  $7.00  |  Flour,  Dak per  100,  $8.00 

GRAIN. 

Corn per  100,  $5.50  |  Oats per  100,  $5.25 

SALT. 

Fine  Dairy per  bbl.,  $14.00  |  Coarse per  bbl.,  $12.00 

Deadwood,  unlike  many  mining  towns,  is  at 
present  a  quiet,  orderly  city ;  much  of  the  wicked- 
ness and  dissipation  of  the  early  days  has  disap- 
peared. It  seems  to  be  a  law-abiding  community. 
It  is  true  that  in  the  early  days  murders  and  blood- 
shed were  frequent.  But  the  stranger  who  comes 
there  now  will  hardly  see  a  trace  of  such  character 
at  present. 

Deadwood  is  erecting  splendid  water-works, 
and  a  thirty-two-mile  canal,  with  two  thousand 
feet  of  tunnels  and  several  miles  of  iron  piping, 
the  whole  costing  something  like  one  hundred  and 


1 


DOUBTFUL   TITLES. 


231 


eighty  thousand  dollars.  These  things  show  the 
spirit  of  public  improvement. 

This  as  well  as  other  cities  in  the  Black  Hills 
has  erected  churches,  schools  and  secret  society 
buildings  of  various  sorts.  Merchants  and  others 
have  settled  here  with  their  families,  erected  neat 
homes,  and  the  place  is  not  lacking  for  good,  in- 
telligent society. 

About  two  millions  in  gold  dust  have  been  taken 
from  the  placer  mines  in  Deadwood  Gulch  alone. 
Single  claims  have  reached  a  production  of  from 
fifty  thousand  to  two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
each.  The  largest  nugget  there  found  was  worth 
one  hundred  and  forty-seven  dollars. 

Cottages  rent  from  twenty-five  to  forty  dollars 
per  month ;  business  houses,  twenty  by  forty  feet, 
rent  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  dollars  per 
month,  according  to  location.  Real  estate  is  cor- 
respondingly high,  and  city  lots  are  up  among  the 
thousands.  But  titles  to  property  in  Deadwood 
are  not  very  good — the  owners  only  having  title 
by  right  of  possession  or  "squatter's  right,,,  as 
the  Government  refuses  to  give  a  patent  for  the 
ground  as  a  town  site,  owing  to  the  mineral  char- 
acter of  the  lands ;  the  laws  forbid  patents  for 
town  sites  on  ground  proved  to  contain  valuable 
deposits  of  gold. 

We  insert  in  full  the  decision*  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  the  General  Land  Office  on  this  point, 
because  it  is  valuable  as  being  applicable  to  all 

*  The  decision  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  back  part. 


OFFICIAL  DECISION. 

town  sites  on  mineral  lands,  and  contains  much  of 
history  in  regard  to  the  town-site  controversy.  It 
will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 

Department  of  the  Interior, 
General  Land  Office, 
Washington,  D.  C,  February  4th,  1880. 
Register  and Receiver \  Deadwood,  Dakota: 

Gentlemen  :  I  have  examined  the  record  of  tes- 
timony taken  at  the  hearing*  ordered  by  letter  from 
this  office,  dated  April  10th,  1879,  to  determine 
the  character  of  the  land  embraced  in  the  entry  of 
the  town  site  of  Deadwood,  made  July  29th,  1879, 
by  John  R.  Fraser,  probate  judge  of  Lawrence 
County,  Dakota. 

At  the  hearing,  you  held  that  the  burden  of 
proof  devolved  upon  the  mineral  claimants  to  es- 
tablish the  mineral  character  of  the  land.  In  mak- 
ing this  ruling  you  were  in  error.  The  said  entry 
was  made  upon  unsurveyed  lands;  the  lands  were 

in  a 

Well-known  Mineral  Region; 

several  mining  claims  had  already  been  entered 
and  many  more  located.  In  short,  it  is  well  known, 
as  a  matter  of  recent  history,  that  the  mineral 
character  of  the  locality  was  the  sole  incentive  to 
the  immigration  which  peopled  the  district,  re- 
sulted in  a  release  of  the  same  from  the  Sioux 
Indian  reservation,  and  made  necessary  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  United  States  Land  Office  in  that 
place.  No  formal  withdrawal  of  the  lands  in 
question  could  have  added  force  to  the  presump- 


SURFACE  CLAIMS.  233 

tion  of  their  mineral  character.  They  were  upon 
unsurveyed  land,  and  hence  no  withdrawal  could 
have  given  them  a  description  by  particular  desig- 
nation, while  the  law  itself  reserved  them,  by  their 
known  character,  for  conditional  disposal  only.  It 
also  may  be  added  that,  by  no  official  act  or  pro- 
ceeding, was  a  presumption  of  their  non-mineral 
character  ever  raised.  The  presumption  was  that 
the  lands  were  mineral,  and  the  burden  of  proof, 
therefore,  was  upon  those  who  claimed  to  enter 
them  as  non-mineral  lands. 

By  decision  of  this  office,  in  case  of  the  town  site 
of  Central  City,  Colorado,  vs.  Mineral  Claimants, 
dated  December  23d,  1875,  and  affirmed  by  the 
honorable  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  June  6th,  1876, 
the  mineral  and  town-site  laws  (section  2386,  R.  S.) 
were  construed  to  permit  town-site  entries  over- 
lying 

Lode  Claims. 

In  this  the  two  *aws  aforesaid  are  consistent,  as 
a  surface  proprietorship  by  the  town  is  compatible 
with  an  adverse  ownership  of  veins  of  ore  beneath; 
and  the  law  seemed  clearly  to  contemplate  that 
condition  of  things,  as  will  appear  by  reference  to 
said  section  2386,  which  limited  its  provisions  to 
town  proprietorship  of  the  surface  over  veins. 

In  placer-mining  land,  however,  no  fact  is  better 
established  than  that 

The  Surface  is  Essential 

to  its  development  as  mining  ground.     By  decision 


234  N0T  N0N-MINERAL> 

of  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  dated 
March  4th,  1879,  in  case  of  Kemp  et  al.  vs.  Stone, 
in  Leadville,  Colorado,  it  was  declared — the  land 
being  placer — that  as  it  was  "valuable  for  min- 
erals," it  was  not  subject  to  entry  as  a  town  site, 
and  that  the  testimony  introduced  to  show  that 
the  land  was  more  valuable  for  town  purposes 
than  mining  was  improperly  received. 

If,  therefore,  the  land  embraced  in  the  town  site 
of  Deadwood  is  valuable  for  placer  mines,  it 

Cannot  be  Patented 

to  the  trustee  of  the  town,  to  be  sold  by  him  under 
local  laws. 

The  record  of  testimony  consists  of  upward  of 
eighteen  hundred  manuscript  pages,  a  volume  too 
great  to  be  here  discussed  in  detail.  It  has  been 
carefully  read,  however,  and  the  conclusion  reached 
that  no  portion  of  the  land  entered  as  the  town  site 
of  Deadwood  (which  includes  that  of  Ingleside)  is 
proven  to  be  non-mineral — that  is  to  say,  that  the 
presumed 

Mineral  Character  of  the  Land 

has  not  been  rebutted.  I  am  further  of  the  opin- 
ion that  all  of  the  land  included  within  said  town 
site,  claimed  for  placer-mining  purposes,  respecting 
which  testimony  has  been  taken,  has  been  conclu- 
sively shown  by  the  testimony  to  be  valuable  for 
minerals,  and  hence   must  be   held  for  disposal 


PR OD UCTION  IS  PROOF.  235 

under  the  mining   act,  and   patent  cannot  issue, 
therefore,  for  town-site  purposes. 

I  find  from  the  testimony  that  several  of  these 
claims  have  yielded 

Large  Quantities  of  Gold. 

It  is  undisputed  that  from  one  more  than  fifty 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  gold  has  been  taken; 
from  another  more  than  forty  thousand  dollars, 
and  several  have  yielded  from  four  thousand  to 
twenty  thousand  dollars.  Other  claims,  where  the 
aggregate  yield  is  not  stated,  have  produced  from 
three  to  ten  dollars  per  day  to  the  man  employed 
in  working  the  same. 

A  number  of  claims,  shown  by  prospecting  to 
contain  gold,  have  yielded  no  return,  and  the  tes- 
timony shows  that  no  attempt  has  been  made  to 
work  them  further  than  required  by  the  local 
laws  for  their  "representation."  It  further  ap- 
pears that,  at  the  present  time,  none  of  the  claims 
are  being  worked,  except  for  the  purpose  of  sus- 
taining the  possessory  title. 

I  am  led  to  believe  that,  with  perhaps  a  few  ex- 
ceptions, none  of  these  claims  can  be  worked  with 
profit  until  the  owners  can  have  unrestricted  pos- 
session of  the  ground  for  mining  purposes. 
Ditches  must  be  dug,  and  those  already  con- 
structed kept  open  for  the  passage  of  water;  space 
must  be  had  for  the  deposit  of  tailings  or  refuse ; 
and  the  surface  of  the  ground  must  be  uninciim- 


236  PA OHIBITION  INEFFECTUAL. 

bered  that  it  may  readily  be  removed,  washed  out 

and  the  gold  extracted.     All  of  these  conditions 

are 

Absolutely  Incompatible 

with  the  existence  of  streets,  alleys  and  buildings, 
and  hence  the  argument  of  counsel,  that  patent 
should  issue  to  both  parties,  the  town-site  and  min- 
eral applicants,  if  concurred  in  and  acted  upon, 
would  allow  but  one  party  to  derive  advantage 
from  the  grant.  If  used  for  town-site  purposes,  it 
cannot  be  mineral. 

Prior  to  the  28th  day  of  February,  1877, 

The  Entire  Tract 

in  controversy  was  included  within  the  limits  of  the 
Sioux  Indian  reservation,  and  all  persons  other 
than  these  Indians,  and  certain  agents  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, were  forbidden  by  the  law,  under  severe 
penalties,  from  making  settlement  therein  for  any 
purpose  whatever.  Notwithstanding  this  pro- 
hibition, the  country  was  visited  by  prospectors, 
who  discovered  gold,  and  reports  of  these  discov- 
eries led  to  a  large 

Influx  of  Population, 

Placer  claims  were  found  on  land  now  in  con- 
troversy, and  were  worked  for  the  gold  they  con- 
tained. These  claims  were  staked  off  in  accord- 
ance with  local  rules,  and  recorded,  by  which  the 
character  of  the  land  was  given  the  utmost  noto- 


MINING  INTERESTS  FIRST.  237 

riety.  These  locations  were  void  and  unlawful, 
and  under  them  the  locators  gained  no  title  what- 
ever; yet  they  served  the  purpose  of  giving  notice 
to  all  concerned  of  the  character  of  the  land. 
While  portions  of  the  claims  were  being  worked 
for  the  gold  they  contained,  other  portions  were 
rapidly  occupied  for  various  purposes,  and  at  the 
ratification  of  the  agreement  with  the  Sioux  In- 
dians, quite 

A  Populous  Town 

had  become  established.  At  this  date,  February 
28th,  1877,  the  land  was  rendered  subject  to  gen- 
eral occupation,  and  a  lawful  settlement  might  for 
the  first  time  be  made. 

Therefore,  the  occupation  of  the  land  by  miner, 
merchant  or  any  other  person,  was  alike  unlawful 
and  prohibited  under  penalty  provided  by  law; 
thereafter  it  might  be  occupied  in  accordance  with 
law.  Section  2318,  Revised  Statutes,  reads:  "In 
all  cases  lands  valuable  for  minerals  shall  be  re- 
served from  sale,  except  as  otherwise  expressly 
directed  by  law." 

If  the  land  was  "valuable  for  minerals/'  as 
claimed,  it  could,  under  section  2318,  only  be  law- 
fully claimed 

For  Mining  Purposes, 

and  the  fact  that  improvements  had  been  made  by 
persons  acting  at  their  peril,  in  direct  violation  of 
law,  gave  them  no  sort  of  color  of  right  to  retain 


238  CONFLICT  OF  A  UTHORITY. 

possession  of  the  same  to  the  prejudice  of  others 
claiming  in  pursuance  of  law.  If  the  land  was 
non-mineral,  no  valid  mining  location  could  have 
been  made  upon  it. 

The  large  population  attracted  to  Deadwood  by 
the  mineral  discoveries  engaged  in  the  various 
occupations  called  for  in  a  mining  camp.  A  muni- 
cipal government  was  established,  streets  and 
alleys  were  laid  out  and  many  buildings,  tempo- 
rary and  permanent,  were  erected. 

The  operations  of  the  miners  soon  clashed  with 
these  town  improvements.  Some  of  the  mineral 
claimants  made  application  for  patents  and  entered 
their  claims,  and  others  were  preparing  to  take 
the  same  steps  to  procure  full  titles  to  their  lands, 
whereupon  those  claiming  for  town-site  purposes 
petitioned  the  probate  judge  of  Lawrence  County 
to  enter  the  land  for  town-site  purposes,  which  he 
did. 

The  miners  were  then  restrained  in  many  in- 
stances' from  working  their  claims,  sometimes  by 
the  road  commissioner,  and  at  others  by  warrants 
in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff,  and  again  by  the  citi- 
zens themselves,  acting 

Without  Color  of  Authority. 

Ditches  were  filled  up,  sluice-boxes  and  dams 
destroyed,  and  the  miners  themselves  sometimes 
arrested  and  put  under  bonds  to  restrain  from 
further  injuring  town  improvements  or  those  of 


POLICY  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT.  239 

private  citizens.  Though  the  miner  was  not  actu- 
ally evicted  from  his  claim,  he  was  only  allowed 
the  barren  privilege  of  digging  therein,  but  if  with- 
out the  power  to  construct  ditches  to  bring  and 
carry  away  water,  such  permission  was  without 
practical  value.  In  short,  Deadwood  assumed  the 
powers  and  privileges  of  a  municipal  government, 
unrestricted  by  United  States  laws,  and  in  pur- 
suance thereof  its  officers  took  ordinary  measures 
and  precautions  to  keep  its  thoroughfares  open  to 
public  travel — proceedings  proper  enough  where 
the  town  authorities  are  entitled  to  jurisdiction, 
but  otherwise  when  they  would  defeat  rights  guar- 
anteed by  United  States  laws. 

It  is  the  settled  policy  of  the  Government  to 
encourage 

The  Deyelopment  of  Mines 

and  the  production  of  the  precious  metals.  The 
law  makes  every  other  claim  to  the  public  lands 
subordinate  to  their  occupancy  and  possession  for 
mining  purposes,  and  no  deviation  from  this  policy 
is  made  in  favor  of  town  sites,  the  mining  interest 
being  jealously  protected  where  it  permits  lands 
overlying  veins  to  be  patented  for  town-site  pur- 
poses. 

In  conclusion,  I  must  hold  that  all  of  the  land 
claimed  for  mining  purposes,  as  to  which  testimony 
was  taken  at  the  hearing,  is  shown  to  be  valuable 
for  minerals. 

These  claims  are  designated  as  follows :  Mineral 


240 


REBUTTAL   TESTIMONY. 


lots  (as  designated  by  the  surveyor-general)  Nos 
38,  76,  72,  45,  53,  71,  7%,  97,  109,  S6,  83,  75  and 
107  ;  placer  claims  13,  14  and  15  above  discovery ; 
and  16,  13  and  24  below  discovery,  Lost  Mining 
District;  claims  16,  17,  18  and  19  above  discovery, 
Whitewood  Mining  District ;  and  claims  8,  9  and 
10,  on  Whitewood  Creek,  in  north-east  portion  of 
the  town  site  of  Deadwood.  Concerning  the 
three  claims  last  named,  I  am  unable  to  determine 
from  the  testimony  and  map  submitted,  whether 
the  same  are  situated  in  Lost  or  Whitewood  Min- 
ing District. 

As  to  the  land  lying  outside  of  the  placer  claims, 
there  is  not  sufficient  testimony  to  enable  me  to 
form  an  intelligent  opinion  as  to  its  character. 

The  Adjacent  Land 

having  been  shown  to  be  valuable  for  minerals, 
strengthens  the  presumption  which  heretofore  ob- 
tained as  to  the  whole  tract,  and  this  outside  land 
will  still  be  regarded  as  mineral  until  the  contrary 
be  proved.  The  only  testimony  offered  at  the 
hearing  relating  to  this  portion  of  the  town  site 
was  that  of  Mr.  L.  C.  Miller,  an  insurance  and 
mining  broker,  who  claims  to  be  an  experienced 
placer  miner.  He  says  that  there  are  no  mining 
claims  located  outside  of  the  gulches,  and  from 
the  character  of  the  ground,  it  is  well  known  that 
there  is  no  pay  in  it.  This,  I  must  hold,  is  insuffi- 
cient to  rebut  the  presumed  mineral  character  of 


CONCLUSION. 


24I 


the  land,  supported,  as  that  presumption  is,  by  the 
testimony  which  shows  the  adjoining  ground  to  be 
valuable  mineral  land.     A  motion  for 

A  New  Hearing 

as  to  this  doubtful  portion  will  be  entertained 
when  the  present  town-site  entry  shall  have  been 
finally  disposed  of. 

The  town  site  of  Ingleside  is  included  within  the 
limits  of  Deadwood,  and  both  entries  must  be  held 
for  cancellation. 

Give  due  notice  hereof  to  all  parties  in  interest. 
Allow  sixty  days  for  appeal,  and  thereafter  report 
promptly  to  this  office. 

Very  respectfully, 

J.  M.  Armstrong, 

Acting  Commissioner. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CUSTER  CITY — OTHER  TOWNS  AND  CITIES  AND  POPULATION — RAPID  CITY- 
ROC  HFORD — ROCKER VILLE — H AYWARD — H I LL  CITY — SH ERID AN — PAO 
TOLA — VICTORIA — SPEARFISH  CITY — CAMP  RUHLEN — CENTRAL  CITY — 
LEAD  CITY — GALENA. 

Other  Towns  and  Cities. 

CUSTER  CITY  was  the  first  town  settled  in 
the  Black  Hills,  and  was  organized  August 
i  oth,  1875.  It was  at  one  time  nearly  depop- 
ulated, but  is  now  springing  into  new  life,  and  the 
few  citizens  who  had  an  abiding  faith  in  the  final 
results  of  their  once  busy  town,  are  now  sanguine 
of  reaping  a  rich  reward.  The  recent  discoveries 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  have  caused  considerable 
excitement,  and  miners  and  prospectors  are  flock- 
ing in  from  all  quarters,  and  that  portion  of  the 
country  bids  fair  to  become  a  formidable  rival  to 
the  northern  portion  of  the  Hills.  The  city  is  most 
beautifully  situated  on  French  Creek  in  what  is 
known  as  Custer  Park.  The  scenery  is  romantic 
and  grand  beyond  description.  Rugged  mountain 
peaks,  beautiful  parks  covered  with  a  luxuriant 
growth  of  the  -finest  grass  for  grazing  purposes, 
with  timber  in  abundance,  are  salient  features. 
The  town  now  boasts  of  five  hundred  inhabitants, 
a  newspaper,  and  several  places  of  business,  and 

is  increasing  in  population  every  day.     The  "  Old 

242 


RAPID  CITY. 


243 


Bill"  Lode,  from  which  gold  ore  has  yielded  at  the 
rate  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  dollars  to  the 
ton;  the  "  Grand  Junction"  Lode,  displaying  a  fine 
body  of  ore,  large  quantities  of  which  show  free 
gold  ;  the  "  Atlantic,"  and  other  quartz  mines,  all 
late  discoveries,  are  now  seemingly  disputing  with 
the  rich  gulches  in  the  vicinity  of  Custer  as  to 
which  shall  be  first  in  importance. 

However,  the  dry  gulch  diggings  near  Custer 
along  French  Creek  should  not  be  overlooked. 
New  discoveries  of  rich  bars  have  been  frequent. 
Twenty  ounces  of  gold  have  been  taken  by  three 
men  in  one  week  from  these  gravels,  the  pay  dirt 
having  to  be  hauled  half  a  mile  to  the  creek  to  be 
washed. 

Occasionally  deposits  have  been  found  which 
produced  about  one  dollar  to  the  pan.  Two  steam 
pumps  have  been  in  operation  near  the  city,  forc- 
ing water  from  French  Creek  up  to  these  dry  dig- 
gings for  hydraulicing,  and  with  most  satisfactory 
results. 

These  enterprises  are  giving  new  life  to  the 
once  nearly  deserted  town,  and  Custer  will  soon 
again  put  on  city  airs.  The  city  has  good  mail  and 
telegraph  facilities,  and  is  the  nearest  point  in  the 
Black  Hills  to  be  reached  from  the  Union  Pacific 
Railway. 

Rapid  City, 

which  is  also  one  of  the  oldest  towns  of  the  Black 
Hills,  lies  in  the  foot-hills  on  Rapid  Creek,  a  beau- 


244  PLEASING  FEATURES. 

tiful  mountain  stream,  which  is  the  largest  and 
finest  of  its  kind  in  the  Hills.  The  town  was  com- 
menced in  1875,  and  some  of  its  founders  resisted 
many  Indian  attacks  and  imperiled  their  lives  to 
protect  the  new  town  and  its  inhabitants.  It  is  the 
supply  point  of  much  of  the  southern  portion  of 
the  Black  Hills,  and  is  beautifully  located  at  the 
base  of  the  mountains  on  both  sides  of  the  creek. 
It  contains  five  or  six  hundred  inhabitants,  has 
good  hotels,  and  strong  business  firms  represent- 
ing all  branches  of  trade.  It  has  organized  good 
schools,  and  contains  Masonic  and  Odd  Fellows 
Lodges,  and  a  good  weekly  newspaper. 

Rapid  Valley  is  the  largest  and  best  watered 
of  any  in  the  Black  Hills  country.  It  is  fifty  miles 
long,  of  an  average  width  of  two  miles,  besides 
valuable  uplands  in  the  near  vicinity.  Irrigation 
is  necessary  to  crops,  and  the  creek  furnishes  plenty 
of  water  for  the  purpose.  The  valley  contains  a 
population  of  three  or  four  hundred  outside  of  the 
town,  and  the  best  farming  lands  are  pretty  well 
taken  up  for  a  distance  of  five  miles  above  and 
ten  miles  below  the  town. 

Comfortable  dwellings,  barns  and  outhouses,  in 
the  midst  of  fields  of  grain,  are  pleasing  features  to 
be  seen  everywhere  in  the  valley.  The  hills  near, 
are  covered  thickly  with  pine,  spruce  and  oak, 
furnishing  plenty  of  timber  for  the  present,  and  the 
country  to  the  east  and  south  toward  the  South 
Cheyenne  River  is  a  fine  grazing  region  for  cattle. 


LITTLE  RAPID  CREEK,  245 

Rochford, 

which  is  twenty-four  miles  north-west  of  Rapid 
Gity,  and  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Deadwood,  on 
Little  Rapid  Creek,  was  organized  in  1878.  It  is 
the  centre  of  a  rich  quartz  mining  district  and  con- 
tains five  or  six  hundred  people.  It  has  two  large 
quartz-mills  and  some  mammoth  veins  of  free 
milling  ore,  though  of  low  grade.  When  the 
quartz-mills  now  going  up  are  completed,  there 
will  be  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  stamps  within  a 
radius  of  three  miles  of  the  town. 

It  was  the  scene  of  a  very  exciting  stampede 
during  the  summer  and  fall  of  1878.  Many  rich 
mines  have  been  discovered  there,  and  California 
capitalists  have  bought  the  "Stand-by"  Lode  for 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 

The  ore  supply  in  this  section  seems  to  be  inex- 
haustible, and  although  mostly  of  low  grade,  there 
are  frequently  streaks  in  the  veins  of  great  rich- 
ness. 

This  section  possesses  unlimited  water-power 
in  the  Little  Rapid  Creek,  which  is  being  utilized 
to  drive  quartz-mills,  for  crushing  its  ores.  When 
this  is  accomplished  it  may  become  a  thriving 
town.    It  is  in  Pennington  County. 

Rockerville 

is  a  growing  town  in  the  midst  of  the  richest  and 
most  wide-spread  placer  mining  district  in  the 
Black  Hills.    It  is  in  Pennington  County,  fifty-four 


246 


MICA  DEPOSITS. 


miles  south  of  Deadwood.  The  valley  and  hill- 
sides are  rich  in  dry  diggings,  coarse  gold  often 
being  found  near  the  surface.  The  pay  gravel  is 
at  present  carted  in  wagons  to  water  and  sluiced 
out.  Capital  is  needed  to  bring  in  water.  A  large 
population  is  centering  there,  and  the  place  is  sur- 
rounded by  good  agricultural  lands.  The  popu- 
lation is  estimated  at  seven  hundred. 

Hayward 

is  a  village  of  about  two  hundred  souls,  about 
twelve  miles  south  of  Rockerville,  in  the  edge  of 
Custer  County.  It  has  a  ten-stamp  quartz-mill, 
some  promising  quartz  mines  and  some  dry  placers. 
In  the  vicinity  of  Hayward  there  are  silver  mines 
giving  high  assays,  also  copper  mines  giving  assays 
of  sixty  per  cent,  copper. 

There  is  also  in  the  vicinity  a  mica  deposit, 
sheets  of  which  have  been  procured  five  by  eight 
inches  of  pure  isinglass.  Near  Hayward  is  the 
enterprize  known  as  the  Battle  Creek  flume,  four 
miles  in  length,  in  which  over  half  a  million  feet  of 
lumber  was  used  to  build  it.  Much  of  the  material 
composing  this  flume  was  lowered  by  ropes  hun- 
dreds of  feet  from  the  tops  of  precipitous  moun- 
tains. In  places  iron  bars  were  inserted  in  holes 
drilled  in  the  vertical  sides  of  the  canon  to  support 
the  flume,  miners  having  to  be  suspended  by  ropes 
from  above  while  drilline  these  holes. 


LESS  PROMINENT  PLACES.  247 

Hill  City 

is  twenty-three  miles  south-west  of  Rapid,  and  is  a 
camp  of  about  two  hundred  people.  Four  com- 
panies were  operating  gulch  claims,  with  excellent 
success.  Quartz  has  been  discovered  near  here, 
but  lack  of  milling  facilities  keep  this  interest  in 
the  background  for  the  present. 

Sheridan 

is  a  camp  on  Spring  Creek,  six  miles  below  Hill 
City,  and  is  the  centre  of  a  rich  quartz  and  gulch 
mining  district.  Some  of  the  first  claims  worked 
in  the  Black  Hills  are  near  this  place.  Some  cop- 
per ores  have  been  found  near  Sheridan. 

Pactola. 

Pactola  is  situated  on  Rapid  Creek  about  twelve 
miles  above  Rapid  City.  Good  hill  and  bar  dig- 
gings have  been  found  there,  and  as  soon  as 
ditches  and  sluices  are  completed,  considerable 
amounts  of  gold  will  be  produced.  Several  promis- 
ing quartz  leads  have  also  been  discovered,  and 
mills  are  soon  expected  there  to  crush  the  ore. 

Victoria 

is  a  settlement  eight  miles  west  of  Rapid  City, 
where  quicksilver  mines  have  been  found.  We 
have  been  unable  to  learn  as  to  the  value  and  ex- 
tent of  these  deposits. 


248 


FORT  MEADE. 


Spearflsh  City 


is  fifteen  miles  north-west  of  Deadwood,  situated 
on  Spearfish  Creek,  where  that  stream  comes  out 
of  a  mountain  gorge  into  a  wide-spread,  beautiful 
valley.  The  stream  is  frequently  in  its  course 
lined  by  groves  of  timber,  and  the  valley  is  receiv- 
ing a  large  population  of  industrious  farmers,  who 
are  building  good  houses.  The  population  is 
estimated  at  three  hundred. 

Camp  Ruhlen, 

at  the  United  States  Military  Post,  known  as  Fort 
Meade,  is  situated  on  Bare  Butte  Creek,  twenty 
miles  south-east  of  Deadwood,  in  a  lovely  valley 
surrounded  by  a  fine  agricultural  country.  The 
officers'  quarters  consist  of  a  cluster  of  houses, 
neat  and  convenient  in  their  arrangements.  Each 
building  contains  a  parldr  with  folding  doors, 
two  suites  of  rooms — dining-room  and  kitchen. 
There  are  usually  four  or  more  companies  of  regu- 
lars stationed  here.  From  Deadwood  City,  two 
miles  up  Deadwood  Gulch,  going  west,  is 

Central  City, 

which  contains  about  fifteen  hundred  inhabitants. 
It  has  two  newspapers,  and  numerous  business 
houses,  and  is  a  thrifty,  busy  place.  Near  it  lies 
some  of  the  greatest  quartz  mines  of  the  Hills. 
Four  miles  up  Whitewood  Gulch,  south-west  from 
Deadwood    and    nearly  due  south   from  Central 


THE  CORA  MINE.  249 

City,  and  separated  from  it  by  two  mountain  spurs 
or  "divides,"  to  use  mining  phraseology,  is 


Lead  City, 


of  one  thousand  inhabitants.  This  is  also  a  busy 
little  town,  and  near  it  is  one  of  the  largest  stamp- 
mills  in  the  world. 

Galena 

is  a  silver  mining  camp,  about  nine  miles  south- 
east of  Deadwood,  and  contains  a  population  of 
nearly  four  hundred.  It  is  the  centre  of  a  rich 
silver  belt  which  has  lately  come  into  promi- 
nence, and  where  some  rich  "strikes"  of  silver 
ore  have  occurred.  It  has  two  smelters  and  nu- 
merous business  houses,  and  is  growing  rapidly. 
The  "  Cora"  silver  mine,  near  Galena,  lately  struck 
ore  assaying  twenty-seven  thousand  dollars  per 
ton;  none  of  it  ran  less  than  four  thousand  per 
ton,  and  the  average  assay  was  twelve  thousand. 
How  much  of  this  remarkably  rich  ore  the  mine 
may  contain,  of  course  is  still  very  uncertain,  the 
discovery  having  just  been  made.  It  is  very 
doubtful,  indeed,  if  ore  of  that  richness  is  found  in 
great  quantities.  The  Cora  mine  was  located  in 
1876,  but  it  was  not  until  a  new  shaft  was  lately 
sunk,  that  its  riches  were  known  ;  no  such  rich  ore 
having  been  encountered  in  the  old  workings. 

'  We  shall  now  close  our  description  of  towns  and 
villages.     In  a  mining  country,  which  is  subject  to 


250 


TOWNS  LIKE  MUSHROOMS. 


so  many  excitements  and  so  many  rushes  to  new- 
points  of  discovery,  it  would  be  impossible  to  give 
an  accurate  picture  of  all  the  towns  and  settle- 
ments, as  new  towns  often  spring  up  like  "  mush- 
rooms" in  the  night,  and  prosper  for  a  time  and 
then  as  suddenly  vanish  and  the  country  knows 
them  no  more  except  by  their  ruins.  Miners'  ex- 
periences are  full  of  such  histories  as  this,  and 
fortunes  have  been  made  and  as  suddenly  lost  by 
the  wild  excitement  and  speculation  in  town  lots 
and  real  estate  in  new  mining  camps. 


CHAPTER  X. 

BLACK  HILLS  GOLD  MINES — THE  FIRST  MINES  DISCOVERED — THE  FIRST 
QUARTZ-MILL  :  WHO  BUILT  IT — THE  RENO  MINE — RICH  ORE — CEMENT 
MINES — MONTHLY  YIELD  OF  SOME  MINES — FOUR  THOUSAND  SEVEN 
HUNDRED  LOCATIONS  IN  THE  HILLS — VEINS  OF  ENORMOUS  WIDTH — 
"THE  GREAT  BELT:"  THEORIES  ABOUT  ITS  FORMATION — THE  DESMET 
MINE:  ITS  PRODUCTION — THE  DEADWOOD  MINE:  ITS  PRODUCTION — 
THE  HIGHLAND  MINE  :  COST — THE  HOMESTAKE  :  ITS  COST  :  PRODUC- 
TION— THE  GIANT  AND  OLD  ABE :  COST — THE  RHODERIC  DHU  MINE — 
PRODUCTION  OF  SOME  OTHER  MINES — DESMET  MINE  AND  MILL — THE 
HOMESTAKE  MINE  AND  MILL — THE  CALEDONIA — THE  GOLDEN  TERRA. 

Black  Hills  Gold  Mines. 

QUARTZ  mining  and  prospecting  in  the 
Black  Hills  appears  to  have  begun  almost ' 
simultaneously  with  placer  mining.  Dur- 
ing the  year  1876  many  locations  were 
made.  The  "Father  Desmet"  mine  was  discov- 
ered in  May,  and  the  "Sir  Rhoderic  Dhu"  on  the 
23d  of  October  following.  Very  soon  afterward 
the  "  Homestake,"  and  most  of  the  other  best- 
known  mines. 

Subsequently,  the  great  size  of  the  veins  be- 
coming known,  as  development  progressed,  a  gen- 
eral interest  in  quartz  prospecting  was  the  result, 
and  hundreds  of  locations  were  soon  made.  The 
first  quartz-mill  dropped  its  stamps  on  January 
1st,  1877,  and  was  built  by  Robert  Lorton  an  M. 
E.  Phinney.     It  was  a  custom-mill. 

251 


252 


SOME  SPECIMENS. 


Another  class  of  deposits  besides  true  veins 
began  to  be   developed,  known   as   cement   de- 

The  Beno  Mine. 

posits,  and  were  found  to  be  exceedingly  rich.  In 
February,  1877,  the  "Reno"  mine,  of  this  class, 
was  discovered  by  L.  G.  Turner,  A.  Sawdry  and  A. 
L.  Louden,  near  Central  City.  Within  one  short 
year  some  four  thousand  dollars  or  more  were 
produced  from  the  mine,  all  of  which  was  pounded 
out  of  the  rock  in  a  common  hand-mortar,  and 
washed  out  in  an  ordinary  prospecting-pan.  The 
ore  for  a  time  was  valued  at  fifty  dollars  per  ton, 
and  the  owners  were  offered  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  in  gold  for  the  property,  and  refused 
it.  A  single  ounce  of  ore  from  this  mine  yielded 
three  dollars  and  fifty  cents,  and  one  and  a  half 
pounds  of  rock,  crushed  with  a  sledge-hammer, 
yielded  the  astonishing  sum  of  sixteen  dollars. 
These  were  selected  specimens,  and  of  course  not 
a  fair  test  of  the  whole  deposit,  but  it  all  added  to 
the  interest  and  excitement  in  quartz  mining  at 
that  time.  The  Reno  produces  now  about  eight 
thousand  dollars  per  month. 

The  other  cement  mines  best  known  are  the 
"Great  Eastern,"  which  produces  about  seven 
thousand  dollars  per  month  (and  which  claims  to 
have  struck  a  true  vein  in  one  of  its  shafts).  The 
"Aurora  Consolidated,"  which  puts  out  about 
seven    thousand   five   hundred   dollars,    and    the 


AN  ENORMOUS  VEIN 


253 


"  Gustin,"  producing  about  one  thousand  two  hun- 
dred dollars  monthly.  The  ores  from  these  mines 
are  treated  like  that  taken  from  true  veins,  being 
crushed  in  stamp-mills  and  amalgamated. 

From  the  vicinity  of  Deadwood  Gulch  miners 
extended  their  operations  to  other  localities,  and 
soon  everywhere,  all  over  the  Black  Hills,  within 
a  radius  of  seventy  miles,  very  promising  loca- 
tions were  made.  Up  to  May,  1879,  over  four 
thousand  seven  hundred  locations  of  quartz  mines 
had  been  recorded,  and  new  discoveries  have  been 
reported  almost  daily  ever  since. 

The  Great  Belt. 

The  oldest  and  best-known  mines  are  situated 
on  what  is  termed  "  the  Great  Belt,"  a  mammoth 
lode  of  several  miles  in  length,  situated  between 
and  extending  from  the.  vicinity  of  Central  City  on 
the  north,  south  to  Lead  City.  The  vein  is  of 
enormous  width — from  forty  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  various  places,  and  continuous  in 
length  several  miles. 

The  Country  Rock,  of  which  the  mountains 
through  which  it  passes  is  formed,  is  a  micaceous 
slate,  one  of  the  older  or  primary  rocks,  which 
here  has  been  thrown  up  on  its  edge,  the  lines  of 
its  stratification  bearing  at  an  angle  of  fifty  or  sixty 
degrees  from  the  horizontal.  Between  these  lines 
of  stratification  have  been  formed  great  fissures, 
which  have  been  filled  with  vein  matter  in  solu- 
tion, forming  the  lode  described. 


254  PROFESSOR  JENNEY' S  THEORY. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  discuss  the  theory  as  to 
how  these  veins  were  formed.  Professor  Jenney, 
of  whom  mention  has  been  made,  holds  that  these 
are  true  fissure  veins.  "  Interlaminated  fissures," 
that  is,  fissures  opened  between  the  "layers  of  the 
rock,  and  not  across  the  line  of  stratification,  as  is 
frequent  in  other  localities.  The  auriferous  quartz, 
he  says,  has  been  formed  by  water  solutions,  which 
have  come  up  from  below ;  and  believing  them  to 
be  true  fissures,  he  supposes  them  to  extend  into 
tne  earth  to  an  indefinite  distance,  and  that  they 
will  increase  in  richness  with  depth.    . 

Other  scientific  men  claim  that  they  are  not  true 
fissures,  but  merely  deposits  formed  in  aqueous 
solution  with  oxide  of  iron,  and  precipitated  be- 
tween the  walls  of  the  rock  while  it  was  still  in  a 
horizontal  position  before  its  final  upheaval  to  its 
present  nearly  perpendicular  position.  If  the  latter 
theory  be  correct,  the  veins  will  of  course  be  liable 
to  become  much  sooner  exhausted  than  if  the 
theory  of  Professor  Jenney  be  right. 

But,  allowing  either  theory  to  be  correct,  the 
amount  of  good  ore  in  sight  is  immense,  and  it 
will  take  many  years  to  exhaust  the  apparent  sup- 
ply now  opened  up. 

The  great  mines  of  the  Black  Hills,  as  known 
at  present,  are  mostly  on  this  "  Great  Belt,"  de- 
scribed above.  Other  districts  may  become  in 
time  fully  as  well  known,  and  will  undoubtedly 
prove  as  rich,  but  we  have  only  space  to  describe 
those  best  known  at  present. 


THREE  LARGE  MINES. 


255 


"The  Belt"  extends  in  a  northerly  and  southerly 
direction  some  distance  west  of  Deadwood,  and 
from  north  to  south.  It  is  something  over  two 
miles  in  length.  In  several  places  this  great  lode 
is  proved  to  be  fully  one  hundred  feet  wide,  and 
in  others  nearly  twice  as  wide.  Beginning  on  the 
north  end  of  the  lodes,  the  first  mine  fully  proved 

The  Desmet. 

to  be  on  "The  Belt,"  is  the  "Father  Desmet." 
However,  the  "Sir  Rhoderic  Dhu,"  a  valuable 
mine  just  north,  is  believed  by  many  to  be  on  the 
same  great  vein,  and  in  time  may  prove  to  be  so 
in  fact. 

The  Desmet  mine  is  owned  by  Messrs.  Archie 
Borland,  August  Hemme,  L.  R.  Graves  and  A.  J. 
Bowie,  Jr.,  all  of  California.  The  ground  owned 
by  them  comprises  three  claims,  "  Father  Desmet," 
"  Golden  Gate"  and  "Justice."  The  claims  all  be- 
ing three  hundred  feet  wide  by  one  thousand  five 
hundred  feet  in  length  on  the  lode,  but  two  of  the 
claims  (the  Desmet  and  Golden  Gate)  lying  par- 
allel to  each  other,  forming  a  parallelogram  six 
hundred  feet  wide  by  one  thousand  five  hundred 
feet  long.  The  owners  of  these  three  claims  only 
have  a  total  of  three  thousand  feet  in  length  on 
the  Belt.  It  is  probable  that  separate  organiza- 
tions or  stock  companies  will  be  formed  to  work 
each  of  these  claims. 

The  Desmet  is  now  producing  about  sixty-one 


256 


HIGHLAND  MINE. 


thousand  dollars  per  month,  and  has  large  mills  in 
course  of  erection.  The  ore  averages  about  twelve 
dollars  per  ton  by  mill  process,  and  the  claims  cost 
the  owners  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  which 
is  the  highest  price  paid  for  any  claim  or  set  of 
claims  in  the  Black  Hills. 

The  Beadwood  Mine. 

South  of  the  Desmet  group  is  the  "  Deadwood" 
mine,  which  is  owned  by  Messrs.  Lloyd  Tevis,  J. 
B.  Haggin,  George  Hearst  and  Gilmer,  Salesbury 
&  Co.  The  claim  comprises  something  over  one 
thousand  feet  on  the  lode.  The  company  have  an 
eighty-stamp  mill,  which  produces  about  forty-five 
thousand  dollars  per  month.  The  expenses  per 
month  being  only  about  eight  thousand  dollars, 
the  company  is  making  a  net  profit  of  nearly 
thirty-seven  thousand  dollars  monthly. 

South  of  the  Deadwood  mine  is  the  "  Golden 
Terra"  claim,  of  five  hundred  feet  on  the  Belt.  It 
has  two  stamp-mills,  one  of  twenty  and  another  of 
eighty  stamps.  The  product  of  the  mine  is  about 
sixty  thousand  dollars  per  month. 

Lying  next  south  is  the  "  Highland"  mine  (which 
is  sometimes  called  the  "  Homestake,  No.  2").  It 
comprises  four  claims,  the  shortest  one  being 
eight  hundred  feet  long.  It  is  owned  by  Messrs. 
Tevis,  Haggin  &  Hearst,  and  Gilmer,  Salesbury  & 
Co.,  and  cost  them  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars.     It  is  building  a  one-hundred-and-twenty- 


THE  GIANT  AND  OLD  ABE. 


257 


stamp  mill,  which,  when  it  is  completed,  will  pro- 
duce about  seventy  thousand  dollars  per  month. 
The  present  product  is  fifteen  thousand  dollars 
per  month. 

Lying  south  of  the  Highland,  is  the  Home- 
stake,  which  owns  two  claims,  the  Homestake  and 
Golden  Star,  each  of  which  is  one  thousand  five 
hundred  feet  long  by  three  hundred  feet  wide.  It 
is  an  incorporated  company,  its  shares  selling  on 
the  market  at  all  the  exchanges,  and  cost  seventy 
thousand  dollars  for  the  Homestake  claim  and 
fifty-five  thousand  dollars  for  the  Golden  Star.  It 
has  two  mills,  one  of  eighty  and  one  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  stamps,  the  latter,  at  the  time  of 
its  erection,  being  the  largest  gold-mill  in  the 
world  in  the  number  of  its  stamps.  The  product 
of  the  mine  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thou- 
sand dollars  per  month. 

The  Giant  and  Old  Abe,  the  next  mine  south, 
owns  a  strip  of  territory  equal  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  long  on  the  belt,  by  six  hundred  feet  wide, 
and  cost  the  corporation  who  bought  it  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-two  thousand  dollars  for  all  the  con- 
flicting interests.  The  mine  is  sufficiently  devel- 
oped to  be  safely  called  upon  the  belt,  and  is 
erecting  a  one-hundred-and-twenty-stamp  mill. 
These  locations  comprise  the  mines  known  to  be 
on  the  same  great  ledge,  although,  as  stated, 
others  may  prove  to  have  found  the  lode  with 
depth  after  further  exploration  has  been  made. 


258  *  SIXTY-FEE  T  FA  CE. 

Among  the  valuable  mines  not  on  the  belt,  the 
Rhoderic  Dhu  produces  about  twelve  thousand 
dollars  per  month;  the  Esmerelda,  ten  thousand; 
Durango,  ten  thousand;  High  Lode,  thirty  thou- 
sand; Gopher,  ten  thousand;  Caledonia,  which  is  a 
very  valuable  property,  forty  thousand  per  month. 
North  of  the  Father  Desmet  mine,  and  south  of 
the  Homestake,  the  great  mother  vein  seems  to  dip 
into  the  earth,  and  is  apparently  lost,  although  ex- 
tensions are  claimed  to  be  found,  and  may  become 
so,  in  fact,  which  further  developments  will  have 
to  demonstrate. 

The  Desmet  Mine  and  Mill. 

The  Desmet  Mine,  as  originally  purchased,  com- 
prised the  Justice,  Belcher  and  Golden  Gate,  all 
lying  parallel  to  the  claim  whose  name  now  desig- 
nates all.  The  "Justice"  was  the  first  of  these  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  the  prospectors'  pick  in 
1876. 

The  Desmet  proper  was  opened  by  removing  • 
the  surface  dirt  from  the  ledge,  which  came  to  the 
surface  in  many  places,  showing  up  a  "face"  of 
sixty  feet  of  ore  when  the  sale  was  made.  The 
new  owners  pushed  their  development  from  this 
breast,  already  exposed,  finding,  when  a  wall  was 
encountered,  that  the  ledge  was  one  hundred  and 
fifty-four  feet  across.  An  occasional  barren  boul- 
der, or  "horse,"  was  met  with,  but  from  this  exca- 
vation twenty  thousand  tons  of  ore  were  extracted 


LARGEST  VEIN  IN  THE  WORLD.  259 

and  milled,  which  yielded  an  average  of  ten  dollars 
per  ton.  Crossing  the  ledge,  as  defined  by  the 
wall  already  exposed,  a  body,  or  chimney  of  rich 
quartz,  about  four  feet  wide,  paid  eighty  dollars 
per  ton,  probably  the  richest  ore,  where  any  great 
quantity  exists,  yet  found  in  the  Hills. 

The  mountain  has  been  penetrated  by  a  drift 
for  a  distance  of  four  hundred  feet  to  a  point  near 
its  centre,  and  the  same  character  of  ore  (not, 
however,  this  eighty-dollar  ore)  is  found.  Cross- 
cuts at  different  places  along  the  line  of  this  drift 
prove  the  ledge  to  be  at  no  point  narrower  than 
seventy  feet,  while  the  greater  portion  of  it  is 
much  wider.  The  mountain  side  being  very  steep, 
drifts  four  hundred  feet  long  penetrate  a  long  dis- 
tance below  the  surface,  and  as  the  overlying  mass 
in  this  instance  is  known  to  be  chiefly  ore,  the 
quantity  in  sight  above  this  drift  will  be  readily 
comprehended  as  immense.  It  is  asserted  that 
the  vein  of  ore  showing  up  in  the  Desmet,  and 
from  this  mine  through  to  the  Homestake,  a  dis- 
tance of  one  and  one-fourth  miles,  is  the  largest 
vein  of  ore  yet  found  in  the  world,  when  its  great 
width  is  taken  into  consideration.  The  course  of 
the  ledge  is  slightly  south-west  and  south-east, 
with  a  dip  to  the  east  of  about  thirty-five  degrees. 
At  the  surface-opening  near  the  "Belcher,"  the 
quartz  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  width,  with 
ore  beyond.  The  vertical  shaft  of  the  "Justice"  is 
down  in  ore  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet; 


260  PRINCIPAL   WORK. 

thence  by  winze  of  one  hundred  and  forty-seven 
feet  to  a  tunnel,  where  the  ore  from  the  upper 
workings  is  dumped  into  cars,  and  transported 
along  the  tunnel  three  hundred  and  forty  feet  to 
an  automatic  elevator,  situated  about  forty  feet 
from  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel.  The  cars  are  there 
lowered  on  the  elevator  to  an  inclosed  tramway, 
running  direct  to  the  mill.  The  tramway  is  two 
hundred  and  eighty-one  feet  long,  and  crosses 
from  the  hillside  to  the  mill  with  a  span  of  over 
forty  feet  in  length,  and  is  at  an  elevation  of  sev- 
enty feet  from  the  surface.  At  the  end  of  this 
tramway  the  cars  are  emptied  into  rock  breakers, 
and  thence,  by  means  of  chutes,  runs  to  the  bins, 
from  which  it  is  fed  to  the  stamps.  The  eighty- 
stamp  mill  is  perfect  in  all  its  arrangements. 

The  principal  work  on  the  mine  is  now  confined 
to  the  two-hundred-and-fifty-feet  level.  Here  an 
immense  chamber,  over  one  hundred  feet  square, 
has  been  excavated,  the  south-west  side  showing 
the  foot  wall  of  the  vein.  The  breast  of  ore  ex- 
posed is  over  one  hundred  feet  wide,  hard  and 
firm  in  its  character,  impregnated  with  white  iron, 
and  mills  well  in  gold.  The  ore  has  very  little 
waste  intermixed  with  it,  and  averages  from  twelve 
to  twenty  dollars  per  ton. 

The  Homestake 

was  among  the  first  Black  Hills  properties  bought 
in  the  interest  of  California  capitalists,  having  been 


INGERSOLL  ROCK  DRILL  ON  TRIPOD. 


INGERSOLL  ROCK  DRILL. 


The  cut  illustrates  the  adjustable  column  for  supporting  the  drill  when  working  in  tun- 
nels and  drifts.  Compressed  air  or  steam,  as  may  be  most  convenient,  are  the  motors 
employed.  One  small  drill  of  this  character  is  guaranteed  to  do  more  work  on  a  heading 
than  nine  men  could  do,  provided  so  many  could  find  room  to  work  there  at  once. 


TWO  HUNDRED  CAR  LOADS  A  DAY.  26\ 

purchased  by  George  Hurst,  in  conjunction  with 
J.  W.  Gashwiler  and  Henry  Janin,  early  in  the 
month  of  April,  1878.  The  mine,  which  embraces 
a  number  of  valuable  claims,  covers  an  area  one 
thousand  five  hundred  feet  long  by  four  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  wide.  The  many  tunnels  and  shaft- 
openings  in  every  part  of  it  give  evidence  that  the 
Homestake  is  one  great,  continuous  body  of  pay- 
ing ore.  The  most  systematic  and  thorough  de- 
velopments have  been  made  to  test  the  real  value 
of  the  property,  and  the  result  has  been  the  erec- 
tion of  an  eighty-stamp  mill,  and  another  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  stamps,  and  the  preparation  to 
work  the  mine  by  all  appliances  that  will  procure 
a  steady  yield  of  bullion.  The  north  drift,  from 
the  vertical  shaft  on  the  one-hundred-feet  level,  is 
in  over  one  hundred  feet.  It  shows  solid  ore  of  a 
very  rich  character.  In  the  Golden  Star  cut  the 
breast  has  been  widened.  At  one  time  a  laree 
body  of  talc  slate,  near  the  surface,  was  exposed 
to  view,  which  assayed  over  fifty  cents  to  the 
pound.  How  extensive  this  body  may  be  is  not 
known.  At  all  points  of  the  mine  late  develop- 
ments show  an  increase  and  richness  of  the  ore. 

Over  two  hundred  car  loads  per  day  are  now 
run  out  over  the  tracks,  thirty-four  men  working 
in  the  mine.  The  shots  or  blasts  are  enormous. 
Holes  are  opened  by  the  aid  of  the  best  steam  drills, 
and  charged  with  enormous  amounts  of  block  pow- 
der, which  tears  down  over  a  hundred  tons  of  ore. 


262  GREAT  CORLISS  ENGINE. 

Five  hundred  and  twenty-five  tons  of  ore  per  day 
is  the  average  amount  crushed.  But  if  the  cubic 
measurements  made  by  mining  experts  are  cor- 
rect, there  is  enough  ore  now  in  sight  to  run  five 
hundred  tons  a  day  for  over  five  years.  By  means 
of  an  elevated  tramway,  over  fifty  feet  above  the 
ground,  and  supported  by  trestle-work,  a  track 
of  "T"  rails  is  laid  into  the  top  of  the  large  one- 
hundred-and-twenty-stamp  mill.  An  engine  trav- 
erses this  track  from  the  mine  to  the  mill,  hauling 
as  many  cars  of  ore  as  may  be  desired.  The  build- 
ing is  one  hundred  and  sixty  by  ninety  feet.  The 
sides  thirty-two  feet  high,  and  the  height  from 
floor  to  the  cone  of  the  roof  is  seventy-eight  feet. 
The  framework  throughout  the  entire  structure 
is  of  the  best  selected  Black  Hills  timber.  Over 
one  million  feet  of  lumber  was  used  in  the  construc- 
tion, and  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  thousand 
shingles. 

The  celebrated  Corliss  engine,  of  three  hundred 
horse-power,  shipped  from  Providence,  R.  I.,  is  the 
largest  ever  brought  into  the  territories.  It  weighs 
eighty-nine  thousand  pounds,  and  has  two  fly- 
wheels fifty-six  feet  in  circumference.  The  cylin- 
der is  twenty-six  by  twenty-eight  inches,  and  the 
arm  attached  to  the  fly-wheel,  weighs  eight  thou- 
sand six  hundred  pounds. 

The  engine  is  set  in  the  centre  of  one  end  of 
the  building,  and  rests  on  eleven  stones  laid  in 
hydraulic  cement.     These  stones  weigh  eighteen 


COST  OF  MILL.  A*. 

263 

thousand  pounds  each.  Two  line  shafts  on  each 
side  of  the  building  have  Walden  &  Mason's  pat- 
ent friction  pulleys  to  drive  the  stamps. 

The  great  benefit  of  the  patent  friction  pulleys 
is,  that  each  ten  stamps  of  the  mill  can  be  stopped 
by  means  of  friction,  the  shoes  being  thrown  in 
or  out  of  gear  by  a  lever  without  interfering  with 
the  motion  of  the  mill. 

Three  of  Blake's  largest  size  rock  breakers  are 
set  in  the  top  of  the  mill,  so  arranged  that  the 
rock  when  partially  crushed  passes  to  twenty-four 
of  Hendy's  patent  self-feeders,  placed  in  the  rear 
of  the  stamps.     The  mortars  are  lined  with  copper 
and  have  improved  screens.     The  stamps  weigh 
eight  hundred  pounds  each.     The  Hendy  concen- 
trator is  a  new  feature  in  this  part  of  the  country. 
There  are  twenty-four  of  these  placed  at  the  end 
of  each  plate,  so  that,  as  a  safe-guard,  should  any 
gold  escape  the  battery  or  plate,  it  is  saved  by  the 
concentrator.     The  tailings  coming  from  the  plates 
are  run  into  the  concentrator,  which  acts  upon  the 
same  principle  as  we  would  pan  out  dirt  by  hand. 
This  is  only  needed  when  the  pyrites  or  sulphurets 
of  iron  contain  gold,  as  quicksilver  will  not  act 
upon  pyrites  of  iron.     The  machinery  weighs  over 
one  million  pounds,  and  the  belting  used  weighs 
over  three  tons.     The  mill  cost  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars. 

The  hoisting  machinery  consists  of  two  twelve 
by  twenty-four  engines  of  seventy-five  horse-power, 


264  BIG  DIVIDENDS. 

which  are  capable  of  raising  two  tons  four  hundred 
feet  per  minute ;  two  reels  for  hoisting,  supplied 
with  a  steel  wire  cable  which  will  sink  the  shaft  to 
a  depth  of  one  thousand  feet.    . 

This  cable  is  a  most  powerful  and  costly  one, 
being  two  and  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  diameter, 
weighing  one  pound  and  a  quarter  to  the  foot. 
Added  to  this  is  a  six-inch  drawing  and  lifting 
pump,  with  five-feet  stroke,  having  a  capacity  of 
five  thousand  gallons  per  hour.  The  entire  en- 
terprise is  one  of  immense  proportions,  and  one 
that  will  be  a  profitable  monument  to  the  nerve 
and  money  of  San  Francisco  capitalists.  The 
Homestake  Company  has  paid  regular  dividends 
of  thirty  cents  per  share  on  one  hundred  thou- 
sand shares,  aggregating  thirty  thousand  dollars 
monthly,  for  sixteen  successive  months  up  to  April 
1st,  1880,  making  a  sum  total  of  four  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  dollars,  which  the  mine  has  paid  its 
shareholders  in  a  year  and  four  months. 

The  Caledonia  Mine 

is  opened  by  a  tunnel  which  runs  into  the  hill 
nearly  at  right  angles  with  the  ledge,  which  is 
reached  at  a  distance  of  three  hundred  feet.  At 
this  point  an  immense  chamber  of  ore  has  been 
excavated,  and  a  shaft  eighty  feet  deep  connects 
this  chamber  with  the  surface.  The  main  tunnel 
is  being  now  driven  along  the  foot-wall.  It  is 
about  six  hundred  feet  long,  and  at  the  north  end 


CLARA  CONSOLIDATED. 


265 


a  drift  forty-five  feet  from  the  foot-wall  to  cross- 
cut the  vein,  shows  the  face  and  side  in  solid  ore; 
and  for  the  whole  six  hundred  feet  of  this  tunnel, 
the  top,  bottom  and  side  show  a  continuous  body 
of  ore,  the  extent  of  which  can  be  determined  only 
by  cross-cuts.  One  hundred  feet  below,  and  fur- 
ther down  the  hill,  another  tunnel  has  been  started 
for  the  purpose  of  tapping  the  vein  immediately 
under  the  large  chamber,  where  connections  will  be 
made  by  means  of  a  winze  now  being  sunk.  The 
lower  tunnel  is  in  about  five  hundred  feet  and  has 
struck  the  ledge,  a  vein  ten  to  twelve  feet  wide, 
which  shows  specimens  of  free  gold.  The  com- 
pany have  a  twenty-stamp  mill  which  crushes 
about  forty  tons  of  ore  per  day,  which  averages 
nine  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  ton.  About  thirty 
men  are  at  work  in  the  mine,  but  many  more  could 
be  advantageously  worked  if  necessary.  The 
company  expect  to  construct  an  eighty-stamp  mill 
this  season  (1880)  and  assessments  have  been 
levied  for  that  purpose. 

The  "Clara  Consolidated,"  a  mine  lying  parallel 
with  the  Caledonia,  has  been  listed  on  the  San 
Francisco  stock  board.  It  is  opened  by  a  tunnel, 
which  is  being  driven  into  the  hill  as  rapidly  as 
possible. 

"The  Golden  Terra"  Mine 

is  a  well-developed  property.  Over  one  thousand 
two  hundred  feet  of  tunnels  and  cross-cuts  show 
up  an  enormous  amount  of  ore  in  sight.     One 


266  VAST  DEPOSITS  IN  THE  BLACK  HILLS. 

drift  has  a  cross-cut  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  in 
length,  which  is  in  ore  the  entire  distance.  An- 
other drift,  running  parallel  with  this  main  drift, 
shows  the  same  character  of  ore.  The  main  lower 
tunnel  is  in  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  and  will 
run  parallel  to  the  upper  tunnel,  and  be  connected 
with  it  by  winzes  at  convenient  distances.  Four 
veins  have  been  cut  in  running  the  lower  drift,  one 
showing  forty  feet  of  ore,  very  similar  to  that  on 
the  lower  level  of  the  Father  Desmet.  This  as- 
says seventeen  dollars  per  ton.  At  the  surface 
the  dirt  from  the  grass  roots  down  is  being  milled. 
A  large  breast  of  ore,  two  hundred  feet  wide,  is 
exposed,  which  will  be  quarried  down,  and,  by 
means  of  a  chute  into  the  tunnel  below,  trans- 
ported by  cars  to  the  mill.  A  single  blast  has 
thrown  down  several  tons  of  ore.  No  ore  has 
been  milled  that  did  not  yield  from  ten  to  twelve 
dollars  per  ton.  The  company  are  running  a 
thirty-stamp  mill,  and  are  building  another  sixty- 
stamp  mill.  About  fifty  men  are  worked  in  the 
mine. 

We  would  gladly,  in  this  connection,  devote 
more  time  to  the  description  of  the  many  rich 
mines  in  this  vicinity,  which  for  lack  of  space  we 
are  obliged  to  omit.  We  have,  however,  described 
some  of  the  large  ones,  those  most  developed, 
which  will  give  an  idea  of  the  vast  deposits  of  ore 
which  these  Black  Hills  mines  contain. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

BLACK  HILLS  SILVER  MINES — FIRST  DISCOVERY — THE  FLORENCE  MINE 
AND  MILL— THE  CORA  MINE — THE  BALD  MOUNTAIN  DISTRICT — THE 
TROAJAN  MINE — OTHER  BALD  MOUNTAIN  MINES — SILVER  MILLS — THE 
ROCHFORD  DISTRICT — THE  STAND-BY  MINE — CUSTER  MINES — THE  AT- 
LANTIC MINE — THE   ROCKERVILLE  PLACER   MINES,   ETC. 

THE  silver  interests  of  the  Black  Hills, 
though  yet  in  their  infancy,  should  not  be 
overlooked.  They  give  promise  of  great 
things  for  the  future,  and  the  discoveries  now 
being  made  are  of  that  importance  which  make 
this  interest  second  to  none  in  the  Black  Hills. 

The  Bear  Butte  silver  region  and  its  city  of  Ga- 
lena, a  thrifty,  growing  town,  will,  in  time,  become 
a  region  of  great  importance. 

The  First  Discovery  of  Silver 

in  the  Black  Hills  was  made  in  the  Bear  Butte 
District,  some  ten  miles  south-east  of  Deadwood, 
in  1877,  by  mere  accident.  A  miner  was  pros- 
pecting for  gold  on  a  neighboring  hillside,  and 
came  upon  a  large  body  of  ore,  which  contained 
about  twenty  per  cent,  of  lead  and  a  fair  propor- 
tion of  silver.  About  the  same  time  another 
miner,  who  was  sluicing  in  the  gulch,  found  among 
his  gold  dust,  one  night,  a  nugget  of  almost  pure 

267 


268  A  BRICK  E  VER  Y  TWO  DA  YS. 

silver,  which  had  evidently  been  washed  down  from 
some  vein  in  the  mountains  above.  These  cir- 
cumstances led  to  a  search  for  that  metal,  and 
those  who  could  content  themselves  with  the  less 
valuable  silver  ore  found  it  in  all  directions.  One 
of  these  silver  ledges  has  been  traced  for  five 
miles,  and  openings  made  upon  the  lead  at  various 
points  nearly  the  whole  distance. 

The  Florence  Silver  Mine 

was  located  in  1877,  and  was  purchased  in  1879 
by  some  St.  Paul  capitalists,  who  have  erected  a 
fine  silver  mill  for  the  reduction  of  their  ores. 
The  mine  is  well  developed  by  tunnels  and  drifts, 
and  has  in  sight  a  large  amount  of  ore,  which  aver- 
ages from  thirty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  ounces 
of  silver  per  ton,  or  about  that  many  dollars.  The 
mill  reduces  about  twenty-five  tons  of  ore  per  day, 
and  the  prospects  of  the  company  seem  flattering. 
There  is  at  Galena  a  small  custom  smelter,  and 
other  silver  mines  of  great  promise.  The  Florence 
mill  is  turning  out  pure  silver  bullion  at  the  rate 
of  about  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  per  month, 
and  has  as  fine  machinery  as  can  be  found  in  the 
country.  Each  alternate  day  a  brick  is  made,  that 
weighs  one  thousand  to  one  thousand  three  hun- 
dred ounces  of  silver.  The  mill  is  a  twenty-stamp 
dry  crusher,  with  two  Bruckner  cylinders,  for 
roasting  the  ore. 


GRANITE  AND  PORPHYRY.  269 

The  Florence  Mill. 

The  mill  is  at  the  base  of  the  hill,  and  on  a  line 
with  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel.  By  means  of  a 
tramway  and  chute  the  ore  will  be  dumped  into 
the  ore-room,  where  it  is  partially  crushed  by  a 
Blake  rock-breaker,  from  whence  it  goes  to  a  dry- 
ing cylinder  and  is  thoroughly  dried,  and  thence 
to  the  self-feeders,  where  it  is  fed  into  the  stamps, 
and  thence  to  the  Bruckner  cylinders,  where  the 
silver  and  lead,  by  this  roasting  process,  is  oxidized, 
the  baser  metals  of  arsenic,  sulphur  and  antimony 
being  separated,  the  silver  and  lead  dust  thence 
passing  to  mortars  and  concentrating  pans.  The 
mill  cost  about  eighty  thousand  dollars. 

In  the  Galena  silver  region  the  stratification  of 
the  county  rock  lies  horizontal,  the  formation  being 
granite  and  porphyry,  capped  with  limestone  and 
quartzite. 

Most  of  the  work  has  been  done  in  the  quartzite, 
where  rich  chlorides,  sulphurets  and  carbonates  of 
silver  outcropped  at  the  surface,  in  the  form  of 
"chutes"  or  "chimneys."  These  have  been  fol- 
lowed by  tunnels,  whereas,  had  the  quartzite  been 
pierced  by  shafts  until  the  primitive  formation  of 
granite  was  reached,  it  is  probable  that  a  "de- 
posit" or  a  contact  vein  of  ore  would  have  been 
exposed.  However,  there  are  a  number  of  true 
fissure  veins  in  the  district  with  well-defined  walls. 

Mr.  Robert  Floorman,  the  superintendent,  and 
we  believe,  'discoverer  of  the  Florence  mine,  has 


270 


WORKS  NEEDED. 


driven  a  tunnel  into  the  mountain  a  depth  of  over 
six  hundred  feet,  and  is  not  far  from  the  granite 
formation  of  the  main  hill.  I*he  indications  near 
the  end  of  the  tunnel  point  to  the  theory  of  a  large 
deposit  of  ore.  The  numerous  "  pockets,"  filled 
with  chloride  and  sulphurets  of  silver,  are  more 
frequent  and  larger,  while  the  pay  streak  is  taking 
a  downward  dip  toward  the  centre  of  the  hill, 
where  it  will  probably  take  the  granite  for  its  foot- 
wall.  The  superintendent  had  about  one  thousand 
tons  of  ore  on  the  dump,  graded  as  first,  second 
and  third  class.  The  first  class  assays  about  one 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  third-class  ore  about 
thirty  dollars  per  ton.     Another  silver  mill,  called 

"McDonald's  Furnace," 
is  in  the  district,  and  is  pronounced  a  good  one, 
and  is  a  custom  smelter.  The  most  prominently- 
developed  mines,  besides  the  Florence,  are  the 
"El  Refugio,"  the  "  Meritt,  No.  1,"  "  Meritt,  No. 
2,"  the  "  General  Custer,"  "  Spotted  Tail,"  "  Buck- 
eye," "Sitting  Bull"  and  "Crestline." 

What  is  needed  in  the  district  is  more  custom- 
smelting  works,  or  a  sampling  and  ore-buying 
company,  so  that  the  miners  can  sell  their  ore  as 
fast  as  extracted.  Many  of  the  miners  have  sev- 
eral tons  of  high-grade  ore  on .  their  dumps,  on 
which  they  would  be  unable  to  get  a  sack  of  flour. 

The  Cora  Mine, 
at  Galena,  in  which  a  recent  rich  strike  was  made, 
is  on  the  same  vein  as  "  Meritt  Nos.  1  and  2,"  "R. 


.4  NE  W  B  ONANZA.  2  7 1 

B.  Hayes,"  "  Sitting  Bull,"  and  others.  This  vein 
is  opened  every  three  or  four  hundred  feet  for 
three  miles.  Assays  have  been  made  from  the 
Cora,  showing"  an  average  of  twelve  thousand 
dollars  to  the  ton,  in  one  instance.  The  mine  was 
located  in  1876,  and  considerable  work  was  done 
at  various  points,  showing  large  bodies  of  Galena, 
or  chiefly  lead  ore  ;  but  it  was  only  lately,  while  a 
new  shaft  was  being  sunk,  that  anything  like  the 
value  of  the  property  was  known  to  its  owners. 
Then  near  the  surface  they  encountered  a  body 
of  decomposed  Galena,  mingled  with  black  sul- 
phate, in  which  native  silver  could  readily  be  seen. 

Reports  of  the  discovery  spread  like  wildfire 
throughout  that  and  adjoining  camps,  and  the 
greatest  excitement  prevailed.  The  lucky  owners 
of  this  Bonanza  are  W.  W.  Andrews,  P.  Donovan 
and  J.  McNamee.  The  vein  proper  has  a  width 
of  about  four  feet,  but  the  rich  carbonate  streak 
above  alluded  to  is  only  aboijt  eighteen  inches 
across.  It  is  impossible,  at  this  early  date,  to  give 
any  correct  estimate  as  to  the  future  value  of  this 
mine.  It  would  be  the  exception,  and  not  the 
rule,  for  the  mine  to  produce  ore  of  such  great 
richness  in  any  considerable  quantities ;  and  al- 
though the  mine  may  be  in  fact  a  regular  "  Bo- 
nanza," it  is  more  than  probable  that  this  rich 
pocket  of  ore  will  soon  be  exhausted. 

There  is  also  a  gold  district  in  the  vicinity  of 
Galena  City,  in  which  much  activity  is  being  shown. 


272 


IMPORTANCE  OF  SILVER  INTERESTS. 


The  "Boss  Tweed"  mine  is  down  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  feet  in  ore,  which  assays  well  in 
gold.     The    "Golden  Prize"    mine,   in   the    same 

The  Bald  Mountain  Silver  District. 

district,  produces  some  wonderfully  rich  gold  speci- 
mens, and  in  Strawberry  Gulch,  six  miles  out 
toward  Deadwood,  there  are  several  promising 
mines.  The  Keystone,  of  this  district,  has  pro- 
duced ore  assaying  one  hundred  dollars  per  ton, 
has  encountered  a  large  body  of  ore  ;  much  of  the 
ore,  however,  is  of  low  grade.  From  eight  pounds 
of  rock  from  this  mine  one  of  the  hands  is  said  to 
have  taken  out  two  dollars'  worth  of  wire  gold 
with  his  fingers  from  a  piece  of  ore. 

The  "  Sunday  Mine," 

oi  the  same  district,  has  opened  up  some  fine 
specimens  of  gold-bearing  quartz  at  a  depth  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  feet.  In  cross-cutting 
seventy-five  feet,  twenty  feet  of  ore  were  found  to 
be  quite  rich.  A  forty-stamp  mill  has  been  erected 
at  this  mine. 

The  Bald  Mountain  Silver  District,  south-west 
of  Deadwood,  is  also  attracting  much  attention. 
It  would  not  be  strange  if  the  silver  interests  of 
the  Black  Hills,  which  are  yet  in  their  infancy, 
should  prove  of  equal  importance  to  her  gold  in- 
terests, and  perhaps  of  even  more  permanent 
character.      It  seems   hardly  probable,  however, 


A  RICH  STRIKE.  2  7  3 

that  the  generation  now  living  will  ever  see  her 
gold  Bonanzas  exhausted.  Several  mines  in  the 
Bald  Mountain  Silver  District  give  high  assays, 
among-  which  are  the 

Troajan  Mine. 

This  mine  is  located  on  the  north-eastern  slope 
of  Bald  Mountain,  and  the  trend  of  the  vein  points 
to  the  centre  of  the  hill.  It  is  in  a  formation  of 
gneiss  and  porphyry,  the  foot-wall  being  porphyry 
and  the  hanging  wall  gneiss.  The  mine  was  dis- 
covered by  Messrs.  Smith,  Keats,  Blake  and  Crane, 
who,  in  1878,  believing  there  was  something  good 
in  old  Baldy,  began  to  systematically  prospect  the 
mountain.  Their  task  was  difficult,  the  entire 
mountain's  side  being  thickly  covered  with  a  dense 
growth  of  under-brush;  but  their  perseverance 
was  finally  rewarded.  The  prospectors  found 
"float"  rock  at  the  base  of  the  mountain.  They 
traced  it  along  up  the  mountain  side  to  where  it 
entirely  gave  out,  and  no  more  could  be  found  any 
higher  up.  At  this  point  they  sunk  a  shaft  through 
the  debris  into  the  solid  rock,  and  at  a  depth  of 
only  fifteen  feet  from  the  surface  they  struck  the 
Troajan  lode.  Assays  of  the  ore  gave  them  en- 
couragement, and  the  shaft  was  sunk  to  the  depth 
of  forty-five  feet,  the  ore  meanwhile  becoming 
richer,  both  in  silver  and  gold,  as  depth  was  at- 
tained. At  this  depth  a  large  body  of  ore  was 
encountered.     The    surface-water   causing   some 


274 


OTHER  MINES. 


annoyance,  a  tunnel  was  started  at  a  lower  point 
down  the  slope  to  reach  the  vein.  The  tunnel 
was  run  in  over  two  hundred  feet,  the  last  one 
hundred  feet  being  run  in  ore.  At  the  head  of  the 
•tunnel  is  a  "face"  of  twenty-two  feet,  all  solid  ore, 
rich  chlorides,  and  black  sulphurets,  and  native 
silver,  besides  masses  of  ore  impregnated  with  free 
gold.  This  mass  of  ore  has  been  tested  by  mill 
process,  and  is  said  to  average  one  hundred  and 
fifty-five  dollars  per  ton. 

The  Perseverance  Mine 

is  an  extension  of  the  Troajan  on  the  south.  It  is 
opened  by  a  tunnel  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
long,  in  the  face  of  which  there  are  twenty  feet  of 
free  milling  gold  and  silver  ore,  which  is  said  to 
mill  nearly  one  hundred  dollars  per  ton. 

The  Decora  Mine, 

a  short  distance  from  the  Perseverance,  is  a  gold 
quartz  lode.  It  is  opened  by  shafts  and  a  tunnel 
to  the  depth  of  sixty-five  feet.  It  shows  free  gold 
in  abundance,  and  it  is  thought  it  will  mill  not  less 
than  twenty  dollars  per  ton. 

The  Empire  Mine, 

lying  contiguous  to  the  Troajan,  produces  gold 
and  silver  quartz  assaying  from  fifty  to  one  thou- 
sand dollars  per  ton.    It  is  opened  by  a  shaft  forty 


V 
OR  GANIZA  TION.  2J$ 

feet  deep,  from  the  bottom  of  which  long  drifts 
have  been  run  on  the  vein. 

The  Snow-Storm  Mine, 

also  on  Bald  Mountain,  is  another  promising  silver 
mine,  and  is  erecting  a  silver  mill  to  reduce  its  ore. 

The  Portland  Mine, 

also  in  the  same  locality,  is  erecting  a  silver  mill 
to  cost  seventy  thousand  dollars ;  and,  although 
the  Black  Hills  is  notably  a  gold  country,  the 
number  and  richness  of  its  silver  discoveries  give 
promise  that  silver  mining  will  take  a  prominent 
rank  in  the  industries  of  the  section. 

The  Bochford  District 

also  has  a  most  promising  future  before  it,  "The 
Stand-by"  and  other  free  gold  mines  only  being 
equaled  by  the  great  mines  on  "the  Belt"  hereto- 
fore mentioned. 

When  Organized. 

On  the  20th  day  of  February,  1878,  the  district 
was  formally  organized.  The  district  is  about  six 
miles  square,  the  Stand-by  mine  being  about  in  its 
centre.  The  first  town  meeting  was  held  May  2d, 
1878.  M.  J.  Hughes  was  elected  president,  and 
W.  W.  Smithson  recorder.  Three  days  later  the 
town  lots  were  surveyed  by  M.  D.  Rochford  and 
others,  from  whom  the  town  took  its  name.  The 
town  gradually  increased  in  size,  and  about  the 


2j6  LOW-GRADE  ORE. 

middle  of  October,  1878,  began  to  "boom!'  In 
one  day  of  this  month  work  was  begun  on  sixty- 
five  cabins.  It  was  not  then  known  whether  Rpch- 
ford  was  in  Lawrence  or  Pennington  County.  An 
official  survey,  however,  determined  the  fact  that 
it  was  in  Pennington.  The  first  store  was  opened 
in  the  same  month  by  J.  L.  Johnson  and  Arthur 
Harvey. 

ITie  Rochford  Belt  of  Mines 

extend  from  north-west  to  south-east,  and  occupy 
a  succession  of  prominent  hills  adjacent  to  Little 
Rapid  Creek.  The  formation  is  granite  and  slate. 
All  of  the  principal  veins  being  worked  are  wide 
and  strong,  and  show  ore  free  from  base  metal 
and  easy  of  reduction.  The  entire  district,  how- 
ever, is  low-grade  ore,  the  highest  estimate  of 
milling  results  being  only  from  eight  to  ten  dollars 
per  ton;  but  the  ore  is  in  great  abundance,  and 
these  results  from  a  vein  of  fifty  feet  of  free  mill- 
ing ore,  very  uniform  in  character,  which  can  be 
mined  and  milled  at  small  expense  in  large  mills, 
and  which  can  be  run  by  the  splendid  water-power 
of  Little  Rapid  Creek,  makes  it  possible  to  reduce 
these  ores  at  a  good  profit. 

"The  Stand-by"  Mine 

is  best  known,  having  been  sold  to  a  New  York 
company  for  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  company  has  erected  a  sixty- 
stamp  mill,  designed  to  run  by  water-power,  and 


A  FAMOUS  GOLD  LODE. 


277 


will  soon  commence  crushing  ore.  Besides  the 
Stand-by  mill,  there  has  been  two  other  quartz 
mills  put  up  in  the  Rochford  District,  the  Manville 
mill,  on  the  "Evangeline"  mine,  and  the  Enos  Cus- 
tom mill,  situated  on  Silver  Creek.  The  "Alta 
Lodi"  Company  have  also  purchased  a  mill,  which 
will  soon  be  erected  within  two  miles  of  Rochford. 

The  Custer  City  District 

is  looming  up  with  astonishingly  rich  discoveries, 
and  some  of  the  richest  quartz  in  the  Black  Hills 
has  been  discovered  in  the  district.  The  town  is 
waking  up  from  its  long  sleep,  and  bids  fair  to 
rival  the  other  cities  of  the  Hills. 

The  Atlantic  Mine — Cnster  District. 

"  The  Atlantic  "  mine,  in  the  vicinity  of  Custer, 
is  a  famous  gold  lode  of  great  richness.  The  dis- 
trict in  which  it  is  situated  is  about  five  miles 
north-west  of  Custer  City.  The  quartz  is  entirely 
different  from  that  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Dead- 
wood  and  the  northern  hills,  being  more  like  the 
California  and  Arizona  type  of  quartz.  The  "  Old 
Bill"  Lode  has  a  main  shaft  sunk  thirty  feet,  and 
ore  is  being  extracted  of  great  richness.  The 
"  Grand  Junction"  mine, which  is  a  mile  west  of  the 
Old  Bill,  has  a  shaft  down  fifty  feet  and  cross-cuts 
showing  a  body  of  ore  eighty  feet  in  width  which 
is  said  to  mill  fifty  dollars  per  ton.  The  extension, 
of  the  Grand  Junction  on  the  south  prospects 
equally  as  well. 


278  JUNCTION  CITY, 

The  Atlantic  Mine,  ' 

however,  was  first  discovered  in  this  district,  and 
is  decidedly  the  richest.  This  mine  has  a  tunnel 
seventy  feet  long,  connecting  with  a  main  shaft 
forty-nine  feet  deep.  The  tunnel  cross-cuts  the 
ledge,  showing  a  well-defined  vein  thirty  feet  wide 
that  will  mill,  it  is  said,  over  one  thousand  dollars 
per  ton.  There  was  obtained  from  one  panful  of 
earth  and  rock,  two  dollars  in  gold  dust,  and  sev- 
eral free  gold  specimens.  A  panful  of  this  crev- 
ice matter  yielded,  it  is  said,  about  half  a  teaspoonful 
of  gold  of  a  very  clear,  bright  nature,  greatly  re- 
sembling placer  gold. 

A  great  many  other  tests  have  been  made  with 
about  the  same  result.  The  Atlantic  is  considered 
one  of  the  best  in  the  locality.  About  one  mile 
west  of  the  Atlantic  is  a  little  camp  called  Kidville, 
which  has  several  mines  which  prospect  well.  A 
town  has  been  laid  out  between  the  Atlantic  and 
Junction  mines,  which  is  called  Junction  City,  and 
several  buildings  have  been  erected. 

The  Rockeryille  Placer  Mines. 

Rockerville  is  situated  fourteen  miles  south-west 
from  Rapid  City,  about  midway  between  Battle 
and  Spring  Creeks.  Down  Rockerville  Gulch  for 
a  distance  of  several  miles,  as  well  as  on  the  sur- 
rounding hills,  there  is  a  rich  deposit  of  gold. 
But  little  water,  however,  can  be  obtained,  and  the 
small  stream  flowing  down  the  gulch  is  liable  to  be 


GULCH  MINING. 


279 


lessened  in  the  summer.  In  the  spring,  several 
hundred  men  are  employed  in  the  district,  and 
these  having  the  advantage  of  the  steam  pump, 
and  what  little  water  there  is,  make  good  wages  out 
of  it.  There  are  many  places  in  and  around  the  dis- 
trict, which  will  pay  from  five  to  fifteen  cents  to  the 
pan,  and  when  water  is  brought  in,  those  having 
the  courage  to  wait  for  it,  will  make  big  pay.  A 
party  of  surveyors  have  been  out  to  estimate  the 
feasibility  and  cost  of  a  flume  from  Spring  Creek. 

Rockeryille  District, 

The  veins  of  ore  which  originally  fed  this  sec- 
tion have  not  yet  been  found,  but  when  they  are 
they  may  prove  very  rich.  Some  miners,  however, 
are  giving  their  attention  to  quartz  and  have 
struck  pay  ore  near  by,  not  much  developed  as 
yet. 

There  are  about  fifty  men  at  work  in  the  gulch 
sluicing  out  the  pay  dirt  and  making  about  eight 
dollars  per  day  to  the  man.  One  claim  has  made 
from  fifty  to  seventy-five  dollars  to  three  men 
working.  The  water  used  is  furnished  by  a  steam 
pump  located  a  mile  below  the  town.  A  company 
have  erected  a  flume  which  carries  water  a  distance 
of  about  three  miles  and  will  be  extended  as  far 
down  the  gulch  as  pay  dirt  is  discovered.  In 
addition  to  the  gulch  mines  there  is  about  one 
hundred  men  employed  in  hauling  dirt  from  the 
flats  to  the  steam  pump,  where  it  is  washed,  pay- 


28o  REPORTS  OF  RICH  DIGGINGS. 

ing  from  ten  to  twenty-five  dollars  to  the  wagon 
load. 

They  haul  it  in  some  instances  a  mile,  and  at 
the  figures  named  make  a  good  thing  out  of  it. 
The  extent  of  this  deposit  of  pay  gravel  is  said  to 
be  large  and  will  furnish  profitable  employment 
for  years  to  come.  It  is  Singular  that  capitalists 
have  neglected  this  district  in  not  long  since  bring- 
ing to  it  an  abundance  of  water,  as  no  one  can 
dispute  the  richness  of  the  dirt. 

Placer  Mining*  on  Rapid  and  Castle  Creeks. 

The  placer  mines  on  Castle  Creek,  a  tributary 
of  Rapid,  have  always  been  rich,  but  owing  to  lack 
of  water  have  not  been  worked  very  extensively. 
Some  reports  of  fabulously  rich  diggings  have 
come  from  that  section,  and  it  is  said  a  party  of 
twenty  men  having  secured  water  by  damming  up 
a  small  stream,  which  enabled  them  to  work  only  a 
small  portion  of  each  day,  have  cleaned  up  over 
twenty  dollars  per  day  to  the  man  each.  The 
quartz  outlook  in  that  section  is  also  encouraging. 
A  number  of  veins  have  been  discovered,  the  most 
prominent  being  the 

Sullivan  Mine, 

near  Castle  Creek.  The  ledge  is  forty  feet  wide, 
and  shows  good  ore  for  the  small  development 
made. 


A  BIG  TUNNEL  ENTERPRISE.  28 1 

Diverting  the  Course  of  Rapid  Creek. 

An  important  enterprise  is  being  carried  on  up 
Rapid  Creek,  for  diverting  that  stream  from  its 
course.  It  is  being  done  by  James  Vollins,  and 
four  partners.  They  are  driving  a  tunnel  four 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  length,  through  a 
mountain  of  solid  granite,  for  the  purpose  of  turn- 
ing the  great  volume  of  water,  in  Rapid  Creek,  from 
its  present  channel,  to  enable  them  to  thoroughly 
prospect  the  bed  of  the  stream. 

The  creek  at  this  point  describes  a  horseshoe 
bend,  of  about  four  miles  in  length  running  around 
the  mountain,  through  which  the  tunnel  is  being 
cut,  and  the  supposition  is,  which  is  based  upon 
prospects,  that  a  very  rich  pay  streak  of  aurifer- 
ous earth  rests  upon  the  bed-rock  beneath  the 
bed  of  the  creek.  Owing  to  the  great  depth  of 
bed-rock  (thirty-five  feet  or  more)  and  the  great 
amount  of  water  in  the  channel,  it  is  impossible  to 
go  down  by  the  ordinary  process  of  pumps  and 
cribbing.  Hence  the  tunnel,  which  is  calculated  to 
drain  the  old  channel  and  throw  four  miles  of  rich 
ground  into  workable  condition.  The  tunnel  will 
cost  about  fourteen  thousand  dollars,  and  its  con- 
struction will  occupy  most  of  the  year  1 880.  But 
if  the  expectations  of  its  projectors  are  realized, 
they  will  be  amply  rewarded  for  their  expenditure. 

As  before  stated,  we  have  not  space  in  this 
volume  to  mention  all  of  the  valuable  mines  of 
the  Black  Hills,  and  therefore  we  mention  but  a 


282  MILLS  IN  THE  BLACK  HILLS, 

few  of  the  leading  mines  of  the  present  time.  It 
should  be  borne  in  mind,  therefore,  that  many 
other  mines  are  perhaps  as  worthy  of  notice  as 
the  ones  named,  and  that  the  leading  mines  of  to- 
day may  be  possibly  thrown  in  the  background  by 
possible  developments  made  hereafter  in  other 
mines,  almost  unknown  at  present.  We  have 
been  compelled  to  omit  even  some  of  the  promi- 
nent mines,  as  it  would  be  impossible  in  one  short 
volume  to  do  justice  to  all  the  mines  of  the  Black 
Hills ;  we  will  therefore  close  our  description  of 
mines. 

Below  will  be  found  a  list  of  the  stamp-mills  in 
the  Black  Hills,  and  the  number  of  stamps  in  each. 
To  these  should  be  added  several  new  ones,  which 
have  lately  been  erected. 

Black  Hills  Quartz-Mills— Location  and  dumber  of  Stamps  in 

Each. 

OWNER.  LOCATION.  STAMPS. 

Lancaster  &  Co , Blacktail  Gulch 25 

Casey,  P.  D Central 20 

Whitney  &  Co Deadwood  Gulch 10 

Purmot  &  McLaughlin "           20 

Cunningham  &  Co "           20 

Cheyenne  Mining  Co '*          20 

Central  Gold  Mining  Co "           20 

Caledonia  Mining  Co "           . 40 

Elliot  &  Co ....                  "           20 

Terraville  Mining  Co "           20 

Miller,  S.&  Co "           10 

Pinney,  L.  &  Co "           20 

Pearson,  Mrs.  C.  A "           20 

Thompson,  O.  B "          20 

285 


SUMMARY.  283 

OWNER.  LOCATION.  STAMPS. 

Number  brought  forward 285 

Union  Mining  Co Deadwood  Gulch 25 

Wolzmuth,  J  "           10 

Deadwood  Mining  Co "           60 

Foot,  C.  H.  &  Co "           20 

Ledwice&Co "           10 

Desmet  Mining  Co "           80 

Homestake  Mining  Co Gold  Run 120 

"                       "     "       80 

Highland  Chief  Mining  Co.          "        30 

Smith,  Pringle  &  Co "          10 

Davenport  Mining  Co " 20 

Castello  &  Ault •*       20 

Carl,  Thompson  &  Co " 20 

Giant  and  Old  Abe  M.  Co.         "       20 

SamuelLewis "       10 

Marshman  &  B "       15 

Racine  Mining  Co u       20 

White,  M.  L.  &  Co "       20 

Brown,  G.  W Golden  Gate 20 

Fargo,  W.  H Hidden  Treasure  Gulch 30 

Wolzmuth,  G Poorman  Gulch 25 

Hewett&S "           20 

B.  H.  G.  Mining  Co "           20 

Golden  Terra  Mining  Co.... Terraville 60 

Mandeville Kochford 20 

Silver  Mill Galena.. 40 

Dry  Crusher  and  Roaster...      "     30 

McDonald  &  Co.  Furnace...      (i     30 

IN    COURSE    OF   CONSTRUCTION. 

Caledonia  Co.,  near Deadwood 120 

Carter  Mining  Co Elk  Creek 25 

Bingham  Co Deadwood 80 

Stand-By  Co Rochford ;....  60 


Total  No.  of  Stamps , I>455 

From  the  foregoing  will  be  learned  something 
as  regards  the  vast  importance  of  the  quartz 
mining  industry  of  the  Black  Hills,  as  well  as  that 
of  the  placer  deposits  of  almost  equal  value. 


284  SPECIAL  ADVANTAGES. 

The  points  which  especially  seem  to  give  the 
mines  of  the  Black  Hills  advantages  over  those  of 
some  other  localities,  are  : 

1st.  The  nearness  of  the  pay-ledges  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  it  not  being  necessary  to  sink 
very  deep  shafts,  or  long  and  expensive  tunnels  to 
reach  them. 

2d.  The  great  magnitude  or  size  of  the  veins  or 
ore  bodies,  and  the  consequent  cheapness  with 
which  they  can  be  mined. 

3d.  The  freedom  of  the  ores  from  base  or  re- 
fractory metals,  which  admits  of  their  being  milled 
by  the  simplest  processes  ;  or,  in  other  words,  their 
free-milling  qualities. 

4th.  Their  accessibility,  or  the  ease  with  which 
the  mines  can  be  reached  with  good  roads. 

5th.  The  abundance  of  fuel,  timber  and  water 
for  mining  and  milling  purposes. 

In  many  cases  the  veins  of  ore  lie  so  near  the 
surface  that  they  have  been  opened  by  merely 
stripping  off  the  thin  layer  of  soil  over  them,  ex- 
posing the  ore  which  has  been  quarried  out  as 
from  a  great  quarry,  at  small  expense,  and  has 
paid  for  milling  at  the  very  grass-roots. 

These  ledges  of  reddish-brown,  iron-stained 
quartz,  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  feet  wide,  lying 
upon  their  edges  between  walls  of  slate,  at  an 
angle  of  about  fifty  degrees,  are  all  ore  from  wall 
to  wall,  and  is  sent  to  the  mill,  in  many  cases, 
without  selecting.     The  ore  is  easily  blasted  down 


PAR  TIALL  Y  DE  VEL  OPED.  285 

in  large  quantities,  and  frequently  the  cost  of 
shoveling  it  up  into  cars  is  saved  by  shooting  it 
through  a  winze  into  cars  in  a  tunnel  below,  where 
a  track  is  lain  to  conduct  the  cars  into  the  tops  of 
the  stamp-mills,  where  it  is  dumped  into  bins,  and 
almost  by  its  own  gravity  is  fed  automatically  into 
the  crushers  and  stamps  below,  saving  a  vast  ex- 
pense in  labor.  In  this  way  the  expense  of  mining 
and  milling  has  been  reduced  to  a  trifle,  as  com- 
pared with  the  usual  cost  of  handling  ores. 

This  explains  how  it  is  possible  to  mine  and 
mill  ore  at  an  expense  of  only  from  two  to  five 
dollars  per  ton  in  the  Black  Hills,  and  how  ores, 
only  milling  eight  to  ten  dollars  per  ton,  can  be 
made  to  pay  a  handsome  profit. 

Ores  can  be  reduced  much  more  economically 
in  large  mills  than  in  small  ones.  It  requires 
about  as  many  hands  and  superintendents  to 
operate  a  twenty-stamp  mill  as  it  does  one  of  a 
hundred  stamps,  while  the  latter  will  crush  five 
times  as  much  ore.  Hence  the  companies  here 
have  taken  advantage  of  this  fact,  and  have 
erected  some  of  the  largest .  stamp-mills  in  the 
world. 

But  comparatively  few  of  the  mines  are  as  yet 
fully  developed ;  a  few  have  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  capitalists  who  have  developed  them  and 
formed  large  stock  companies  and  placed  them 
upon  a  dividend-paying  basis.  Hundreds  of  rich 
prospects  still  remain,  waiting  for  the  advent  of 


286  CAUSE  OF  FAILURES. 

capital  to  develop  their  resources  and  show  them 
up  to  the  world.  It  seems  to  us,  therefore,  that 
with  the  exercise  of  a  moderate  amount  of  cau- 
tion, that  capitalists  can  here  find  opportunities  for 
good  investments,  not  excelled  by  any  mining 
country. 

Mining  is  a  business,  a  profession ;  and,  of 
course,  in  order  to  be  successful,  it  is  necessary 
to  have  a  certain  amount  of  knowledge  and  expe- 
rience in  the  business.  Most  of  the  failures  in 
mining  operations  have  been  from  this  cause — 
lack  of  experience.  When  the  same  caution  and 
the  same  knowledge  is  exercised  that  men  are  ac- 
customed to  use  in  other  branches  of  business, 
success  has  been  the  result,  and  there  is  no  ques- 
tion but  there  is  as  good  opportunities  for  the  safe 
investment  of  capital  in  the  mines  of  the  Black 
Hills  as  in  any  country  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

TAKING   THE   BULLION    AWAY — ROAD   AGENTS. 

The  Black  Hills. 

ALTHOUGH  at  present  there  is  as  much 
safety  and  security  to  person  and  property 
in  the  Black  Hills  as  in  any  country  on 
the  frontier,  yet  there  was  a  time  when,  tempted 
by  the  heavy  shipments  of  gold  dust  and  bullion 
via  the  stage  lines,  highway  robberies  by  armed 
men  were  frequent.  Road  agents,  as  they  were 
called,  stopped  nearly  every  unguarded  coach 
which  passed  between  Cheyenne  and  Deadwood ; 
and  it  became  necessary  to  have  every  treasure 
coach  strongly  guarded. 

Express  rates  on  bullion  and  gold  dust  conse- 
quently became  very  high.  Most  of  the  bullion 
produced  in  the  Black  Hills  is  shipped  to  New 
York  via  Sidney  and  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad, 
and  the  charges  are  one  and  one-half  per  cent., 
equal  to  fifteen  dollars  on  every  one  thousand 
dollars.  Of  this  amount  the  stage  companies  re- 
ceive one  per  cent,  and  the  railroad  company  the 
balance.  For  a  long  time  no  treasure  has  been 
shipped  except  by  special  coach,  sent  twice  a 
month,  guarded  by  eight  armed  men,  besides  two 
others  who  ride  at  a  distance  ahead  of  the  coach, 

and  two  behind  also.     These  men  never  rest  or 

287 


2  g  g  HIGHWA  Y  R  OBBER  Y. 

sleep  until  they  have  reached  their  destination  at 

Sidney.     The  coaches  carry  nearly  two  hundred 

thousand  dollars  each  trip, 

v 
Stage  Robberies. 

Only  one  treasure  coach  has  ever  been  robbed, 
and  that  was  only  guarded  by  two  messengers, 
and  contained  but  twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 
This  amount  was  taken,  but  eighteen  thousand  dol- 
lars of  it  was  afterward  recovered  and  two  of  the 
robbers  captured. 

During  the  early  spring,  in  1878,  several  coaches 
on  both  the  Cheyenne  and  Sidney  route  were 
robbed  in  quick  succession. 

On  the  26th  of  June,  1878,  the  treasure  coach 
above  mentioned  was  attacked  near  the  Cheyenne 
River.  After  the  exchange  of  a  few  shots,  which 
wounded  the  driver,  the  highwaymen  won  a  com- 
plete victory  over  the  messengers.  The  passen- 
gers were  all  ordered  out  and  placed  in  line  along- 
side of  the  road,  and  compelled  to  hold  up  their 
hands,  with  the  muzzles  of  cocked  revolvers  pointed 
at  their  faces,  while  one  of  the  robbers  searched 
their  pockets  and  baggage  for  valuables.  Failing 
to  unlock  the  treasure-box,  and  not  being  able  to 
break  it  open  with  hatchets,  it  was  proposed  to 
abandon  it,  until  one  hit  upon  the  plan  of  blowing 
it  open  with  gunpowder.  This  happy  thought  was 
quickly  put  into  execution,  and  in  less  time  than  it 
takes  to  write  it,  the  box  was  blown  open,  and  the 


ANOTHER  ROBBERY. 


289 


plethoric  purses  of  gold  dust  extracted,  after  which 
the  coach  was  allowed  to  pass  on. 

On  the  1st  of  July,  in  the  same  year,  while  the 
Cheyenne  coach  was  passing  near  the  same  place, 
in  the  night,  two  men  raised  up  suddenly  at  the 
side  of  the  coach  and  demanded  it  to  halt.  One 
ran  ahead  and  stopped  the  leaders,  and  ordered 
the  passengers  to  alight.  All  obeyed.  After 
reaching  the  ground  the  men  stood  in  line,  with 
one  road  agent  behind  as  a  guard,  with  a  gun  and 
two  revolvers.  The  other  robber  began  at  the 
opposite  end  of  the  line,  from  which  a  man  named 
Flynn  stood,  and  commenced  going  through  the 
passengers.  When  he  had  reached  the  man 
standing  second  from  him,  Flynn  whispered  to  his 
nearest  comrade  to  look  after  the  unarmed  robber 
and  he  would  attend  to  the  guard  behind,  and 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  drew  a  pistol  and 
fired,  the  robber  dropped  to  the  ground,  and 
almost  immediately  Flynn  received  a  shot  in  the 
face,  after  which  he  ran  around  behind  the  coach 
and  hid  in  the  bushes,  the  robber  firing  at  him  all 
the  time,  and  he  returning  the  shots.  The  driver 
whipped  up  and  drove  on,  but  soon  returned  with 
two  men  and  took  aboard  the  passengers,  two  of 
whom  were  wounded — the  robbers  escaped. 

On  the  25th  of  the  same  month,  before  day- 
break, the  stage .  was  again  stopped  near  Hat 
Creek  by  six  armed  men,  who  were  on  foot  and 
masked.     Finding  there  was  but  one  passenger 


2Q0  ANOTHER  ROBBERY. 

on  board,  and  that  he  was  a  preacher,  they  fore- 
bore  molesting  him,  but  turned  their  attention  to 
the  mail-sacks,  which  they  cut  open  and  robbed  of 
registered  letters  and  other  valuable  matter. 
They  also  broke  open  the  treasure-boxes,  but 
found  nothing. 

They  were  notatall  excited  over  their  work,  which 
occupied  them  a  full  half  hour,  and  as  soon  as  they 
were  through  they  ordered  the  driver  to  go  on. 
About  the  13th  of  September,  near  the  same 
place,  the  coach  was  fired  into  and  a  man  with  a 
mask,  from  a  distance,  ordered  the  driver  to  have 
the  passengers  get  out.  There  were  two,  a  lady 
and  gentleman,  who  very  willingly  complied  with 
the  request,  and  the  man  was  ordered  to  hold  up  his 
hands,  when  his  arms  were  securely  tied  behind  him 
with  a  buckskin  string.  The  captain  of  the  gang 
then  told  him  he  had  taken  a  fancy  to  his  ulster  over- 
coat, and  must  have  it,  so  the  pinioned  arms  were 
relieved  and  the  coat  removed.  His  pockets  were 
next  searched,  although  he  assured  the  robber  that 
it  was  a  foregone  conclusion  he  was  broke.  Five 
dollars  were,  however,  obtained.  Two  pocket- 
books  were  examined,  but  nothing  contraband 
being  discovered,  were  handed  back.  The  lady 
was  next  called  upon,  but  responded  very  feebly — 
only  one  dollar  and  a  quarter. 

The  investigation  ended,  both  were  ordered  to 
forward  march  down  the  road,  when,  in  a  few  min- 
utes, about  two  hundred  yards  away,  a  sight  for 


A  RELENTLESS  RUFFIAN.  2C)l 

an  artist  met  their  gaze — four  men  and  one 
woman,  shivering  in  the  cold ;  the  hands  of  the 
men  tied  behind  them,  and  crouching  under  the 
ghostly  light  of  the  lamp  of  the  south-bound  coach 
and  the  awe-inspiring  glances  of  a  double-barreled 
shot-gun. 

The  twain  were  ordered  to  stand  a  few  feet 
away,  and  the  rifling  of  the  pockets  of  the  south- 
bound passengers  began.  The  messenger  was 
the  first  to  be  overhauled,  and  a  shot-gun,  watch 
and  chain,  valued  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
and  two  pistols,  overcoat  and  fifteen  dollars  in 
cash  were  taken.  Another  man  gave  up  ten  dol- 
lars, but  the  bandits,  dissatisfied,  wanted  his  boots, 
and  asked  what  size  they  were.  He  replied  by 
sitting  down  on  the  grass  and  holding  his  foot 
aloft,  while  the  captain  placed  his  against  it,  but 
found  that  a  difference  of  several  sizes  existed. 
Another  passenger  was  rifled,  but  did  not  return 
a  satisfactory  amount,  as  the  petulant  looks  and 
grumbling  tones  of  the  agents  evinced.  Lastly, 
they  approached  a  lady  of  the  south-bound  coach 
and  took  from  her  fingers  several  valuable  rings, 
including  her  wedding-ring.  For  this  she  plead 
and  begged,  and  upon  her  knees  asked  that  the 
little  trinket  be  returned  to  her ;  but  supplication 
was  unavailing,  the  ruffian  gruffly  informed  her 
that  a  wedding-ring  was  as  good  for  him  as  her. 
Before  leaving,  the  driver  yielded  to  the  solicita- 
tions of  the  gang,  and  gave  up  six  dollars  in  money 


2g2  MANNER  OF  PARTING. 

and  a  silver  watch.  The  treasure-boxes  of  both 
coaches  were  broken  open,  but  nothing  but  en- 
velopes found. 

The  work  of  plundering  being  finished,  the  cap- 
tain ordered  a  subordinate  to  level  his  gun  upon 
the  party,  while  he  went  around  the  bluff  and  got 
the  horses,  which  he  hitched  near  by.  Two  rob- 
bers covered  the  passengers  with  their  rifles,  while 
a  third  mounted  his  horse,  returned  and  leveled 
his  rifle  until  the  second  could  secure  his  animal, 
and  so  on  until  all  were  mounted ;  they  then  bade 
the  passengers  good-night  and  rode  away.  When 
about  one  hundred  yards  distant,  the  captain  dis- 
charged his  weapon  in  the  air,  probably  as  a  signal. 
One  of  the  men's  arms  were  released  before  the 
ruffians  left,  and  he  and  the  ladies  untied  the  other 
passengers.  Several  of  the  party  congratulated 
themselves  that  a  more  thorough  search  was  not 
made,  as  one  had  ten  dollars  under  the  lining  of 
his  hat,  another  a  substantial  roll  concealed  in 
his  coat-sleeve,  and  the  lady  one  hundred  and 
ninety  dollars  within  her  stocking,  under  her  foot. 

Two  days  later,  the  villains  again  attacked  and 
robbed  two  coaches  in  the  same  locality.  The 
north-bound  coach  left  Hat  Creek  at  nine  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  and  had  been  out  about  two  hours 
when,  in  the  middle  of  a  short,  steep  hill,  the  not- 
unlooked-for  cry  of  "  Halt "  came.  Below  the 
coach  and -lying  upon  their  faces  were  four  men, 
pointing  each  a  business-looking  rifle ;  one  direct- 


AFTER   THE  «  TREASURE."  ,n1 

ing  his  to  the  lead  horses,  another  to  the  driver, 
while  the  other  two  were  trained  upon  the  coach. 
The  spokesman  asked  the  driver,  "  How  many 
passengers  have  you  ?"  receiving  the  answer, 
"Two,  a  lady  and  gentleman."  "Get  out  and 
hold  up  your  hands."  The  command  was  obeyed 
by  the  gentleman,  but  the  lady  was  allowed  to  re- 
tain her  seat.  The  gentleman  was  approached  and 
asked,  "  How  much  money  have  you  ?"  He  re- 
plied, "  Thirty  dollars."  The  highwayman  said  he 
would  take  one-half  of  it,  but  by  advice  of  his 
comrades  compromised  with  ten  dollars,  giving 
that  back  when  he  ascertained  that  his  victim  was 
a  laboring  man,  with  the  words,  "  We  don't  want 
to  molest  the  passengers,  but  must  have  the 
treasure."  They  next  asked  for  eatables,  and  the 
driver  produced  a  box  of  fruit  in  reply,  which  was 
broken  open  and  a  good  portion  devoured,  the 
ruffians  offering  the  passengers  a  share. 

Robbing'  the  Mails. 

The  mail-sacks  were  handed  down,  and  one  cut 
open  and  one  found  unlocked.  Their  contents 
were  poured  out  upon  the  ground,  sorted  over 
and  returned  to  the  pouches.  The  gentleman's 
trunk  was  taken  off  the  rack,  but  not  broken 
open.  The  driver  was  then  ordered  to  go  on,  and 
meeting  the  south-bound  coach  in  about  two 
hours,  he  informed  the  outriders  of  the  adven- 
ture of  his  coach  a  few  hours  before.  When  the 
xS 


2g4  BLOODY  WORK. 

south-bound  coach  reached  the  same  spot  it  w£s 
also  stopped.  There  were  two  passengers  in  this 
coach  and  two  messengers  following  about  two 
hundred  yards  behind  on  horseback.  As  soon  as 
the  coach  was  halted,  the  messengers  dismounted 
and  approached  within  fifteen  steps  of  the  thieves, 
one  of  whom  called  to  them,  "  Halt,"  accompany- 
ing his  command  with  a  shot.  One  of  the  mes- 
sengers returned  the  shot,  killing  the  thief  who 
had  fired.  The  remaining  highwaymen  at  this 
moment  began  firing  at  the  messengers  and  re- 
treating toward  the  gulch  close  by,  to  which  point 
the  messengers  could  not  follow.  The  coach, 
meantime,  had  been  ordered  to  go  ahead  by  the 
thieves,  who  had  succeeded  in  robbing  one  pas- 
senger and  in  securing  the  mail-sacks  before  the 
fight  began.  The  messengers  held  their  ground 
for  half  an  hour  after  the  firing  ceased,  but  could 
not  reach  the  place  where  the  mail-sacks  and  the 
dead  robber  lay,  and  not  being  in  sufficient  force 
to  dislodge  the  thieves,  they  mounted  their  horses 
and  joined  the  coach. 

Besides  the  robber  who  was  shot  dead,  it  is 
known  that  two  others  were  badly  wounded. 
Both  the  messengers  escaped  unhurt.  It  was 
learned  from  the  passengers,  that  the  reason  the 
money  was  returned  to  the  gentleman,  was  be- 
cause upon  being  asked  by  the  captain  what  his 
business  was,  he  relied,  "  A  working  man." 

At  this  period  nearly  every  outgoing  coach  was 


UNPR  OF/TABLE.  2  g  c- 

stopped,  and  travelers  expected  to  be  halted, 
and  were  obliged  to  adopt  the  plan  of  carrying- 
very  little  money  or  valuables  with  them.  The 
road  agents  found  on  the  person  of  a  passenger 
one  night  a  cheap  watch,  and  besides  refusing  to 
take  it,  ridiculed  him  for  carrying  such  a  time- 
piece. At  one  time  the  robbers  got  only  fourteen 
dollars  from  six  passengers,  and  remarked  that  it 

was  d d  strange   that  folks   traveled  with  so 

little  money  about  them.  One  of  the  passengers 
replied,  "  That  none  but  fools  would  carry  money, 
knowing  they  were  sure  to  lose  it." 

Hence  it  soon  became  unprofitable  business  for 
the  road  agents,  and  it  soon  became  also  accom- 
panied with  too  great  risk  to  pay  them  to  follow 
it.  The  messengers  became  more  bold,  and 
several  of  the  highwaymen  were  killed,  others 
were  captured  by  the  sheriff  and  posse,  so  that 
finally  the  business  was  entirely  broken  up  and  no 
further  molestation  occurred. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

COAL,   OIL,   SALT  AND   AGRICULTURAL-    RESOURCES,    RAILROADS,  ETC. 

The  Black  Hills. 

ON  the  5th  of  January,  1877,  while  hunting 
north  of  the  Redwater  River,  James 
Brewer  discovered  a  bank  of  coal,  at  a 
point  where  it  cropped  out  of  the  mountain.  Sub- 
sequently other  discoveries  of  coal  were  made  at 
various  points  in  the  Black  Hills  country,  and  at 
Sturgis  City,  and  also  near  Rapid  City  small  veins 
were  found,  but  nothing  of  very  great  importance 
except  that  in  the  Redwater  region. 

This  coal  bank  was  named  by  Brewer  the 
Blossburg  Coal  District,  and  lies  about  nineteen 
miles  north  of  Spearfish  City,  and  thirty-one  miles 
north-west  of  Deadwood.  On  the  1st  of  June, 
1878,  four  companies  were  organized,  locating  two 
thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land. 
During  the  same  month  the  four  companies  con- 
solidated, under  the  management  known  as  the 
"Black  Hills  Consolidated  Coal  Mining  and  Fire- 
Clay  Manufacturing  Company,"  Captain  James 
Christie,  General  Manager,  and  Robert  Chew, 
Treasurer.     Under   this   management   they  now 

have  a  tunnel  in  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  with 

296 


ABUNDANCE  OF  COAL.  207 

rooms  on  each  side,  and  will  soon  have  their  mine 
in  shape  to  get  out  any  amount  of  coal  that  may 
be  required  for  consumption  in  the  Black  Hills. 
The  vein  is  five  and  a  half  feet  thick,  with  indica- 
tions of  widening.  The  coal  is  bituminous,  a  su- 
perior article,  and  easily  mined,  and  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  it  will  make  good  coke, 
which  the  company  propose  to  test.  They  have 
prospected  their  entire  body  of  land,  and  find  the 
same  vein  of  coal  extending  almost  through  their 
entire  location.  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of 
prospecting  south  of  Hay  Creek,  near  Redwater 
River,  and  the  indications  of  coal  are  found,  but 
the  vein  is  only  from  eight  to  fourteen  inches 
thick,  and  has  what  they  call  "horses"  extending 
through  it  besides,  which  would  not  pay  to  work. 
There  is  a  good  road  from  Spearfish  City  to  the 
Blossburg  coal  bank,  and  the  company  propose  to 
build  a  railroad  from  Deadwood  to  their  mines  as 
soon,  as  practicable.  There  is  little  doubt  but  that 
the  Black  Hills  coal  deposits  are  sufficient  to 
abundantly  supply  the  country  with  fuel  when 
they  shall  become  properly  developed. 

oa. 

Another  one  of  the  rich  resources  of  the  Black 
Hills  which  cannot  be  overlooked  is  the  petroleum 
wells. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  a  hunter  was  destined 
to  discover  these  as  well  as  the  coal  banks.     A 


298 


PETROLEUM  WELLS. 


man  named  Taylor,  while  having  his  Christmas 
hunt  on  the  splendid  elk  and  deer  ranges,  near 
Jenney's  stockade,  during  the  closing  week  of 
1877,  one  day  camped  by  the  side  of  a  spring 
which  he  found  utterly  worthless  to  quench  his 
thirst,  and,  as  he  afterward  expressed  it,  "the 
water  was  only  fit  for  shoe  grease."  News  travels 
very  quickly,  sometimes,  even  in  the  rough  moun- 
tain passes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  it  was 
not  long  until  his  disagreeable  experience  with  the 
spring  became  the  subject  of  bar-room  jests  among 
the  mining  camps.  So,  early  in  1878,.  a  small 
party  of  Pennsylvanians,  who  were  largely  inter- 
ested in  quartz  and  placer  mines' at  Deadwood, 
quietly  organized  a  prospecting  expedition,  braved 
storm  and  other  hardships,  and  looked  the  ground 
over  thoroughly.  The  experienced  Oil  City  men 
were  thoroughly  at  home  among  the  immense 
beds  of  oil-bearing  shale,  the  croppings  of  slate 
and  sandstone,  and  the  mires  of  seeping  petro- 
leum. Four  of  them  located  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  each,  cornering  at  the  largest  spring, 
and  others  staked  off  equally  good  claims. 

Before  leaving  they  erected  cabins,  made  a  thor- 
ough examination  of  the  surroundings,  and  filled 
quite  a  number  of  bottles  with  samples  of  the  oil. 
Some  of  these  samples  were  at  once  tested  by 
machinists  and  engineers,  at  Deadwood  and  in  the 
East,  and  pronounced  by  all  to  be  equal  to  the 
oils  of  Pennsylvania.     Pennsylvania  experts  de- 


EXTENSIVE  FIELDS.  2QQ 

clared  this  oil  to  be  almost  totally  free  from  grit 
or  other  impurities,  and  of  very  heavy  "body," 
possessing  a  gravity  of  from  thirty  to  thirty-three. 
This  Black  Hills  product  has  since  been  dipped 
up  by  the  barrelful  from  the  largest  spring, 
where  it  escapes  at  the  rate  of  over  a  barrel  per 
day,  and  is  used  exclusively  for  lubricating  pur- 
poses by  several  quartz  mills  in  the  Black  Hills. 

Black  Hills  Petroleum. 

After  the  pioneering  had  been  done,  of  course 
there  were  plenty  to  turn  their  backs  upon  the 
glittering  treasure  at  Deadwood  and  stampede  to 
the  less  romantic  petroleum  fields.  In  a  few  days 
over  one  hundred  locations  had  been  made,  and  a 
miniature  oil  city  created,  by  the  dozens  of  log 
cabins  which  immediately  sprang  up. 

The  fields  are  undoubtedly  very  extensive, 
having  already  been  traced  for  a  distance  of  twen- 
ty-five miles  in  one  direction,  and  possessing  a 
width  which  is  yet  unknown.  They  lie  along  the 
Cheyenne  and  Black  Hills  stage  road,  about  six 
miles  from  Jenney's  stockade  and  fifty  miles  south- 
west of  Deadwood,  being  about  two  hundred  miles 
north  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  They  are, 
therefore,  easily  accessible,  and  will  doubtless  soon 
be  crossed  by  the  iron  rails. 

The  valley  of  the  South  Cheyenne  River,  about 
three  miles  distant,  and  the  smaller  valleys  at  the 
base  of  the  hills,  have  fine  areas  of  fertile  agricul- 


^00  MARKET  FOR  OIL. 

tural  lands,  While  the  hills  adjacent  are  covered 
with  heavy  growths  of  pine  and  other  kinds  of 
timber.  We  are  informed  that  machinery  has 
been  taken  there  for  boring,  and  that  numerous 
wells  will  undoubtedly  soon  be  spouting  oil.  Com- 
mon lubricating  oil  sells  in  Deadwood  for  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  dollars  per  barrel,  and  ordinary  illumi- 
nating oil,  which  in  the  East  sells  for  fifteen  to 
twenty  cents  per  gallon,  costs  in  the  Black  Hills 
from  sixty  to  ninety  cents.  The  oil  taken  to  Dead- 
wood,  from  Jenney's  stockade,  has  sold  to  the  mills 
for  lubricating  purposes  at  from  one  dollar  to  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  gallon. 

While  the  market  afforded  by  the  wonderfully- 
increasing  population  and  enterprise  of  the  Black 
Hills  would  be  quite  an  item,  the  fact  should  not 
be  overlooked  that  there  are  no  oil  wells  success- 
fully worked  in  all  the  trans-Missouri  region,  and 
that  the  consumption  of  lubricating  and  illumi- 
nating oils  in  this  broad  portion  of  Uncle  Sam's 
domain,  runs  up  in  value  to  millions  of  dollars  an- 
nually. If  present  prospects  are  one-half  fulfilled, 
the  export  of  oil  from  the  Black  Hills'  wells  will, 
inside  of  -a  few  years,  add  largely  to  the  general 
prosperity  of  the  region. 

Black  Hills  Salt  Springs. 

Worthy  of  consideration  in  connection  with  the 
great  treasure-vaults  of  silver  and  gold,  and  the 
deposits  of  coal,  lead,  mica,  quicksilver  and  petro- 


SAL  T  SPRINGS.  ?Q I 

leum,  and  the  generous  breadths  of  fertile  agricul- 
tural and  pastoral  lands,  and  splendid  forests,  are 
the  Black  Hills  salt  springs  and  wells. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  oil  wells,  near  Jenney's 
stockade,  are  several  large  and  valuable  salt 
springs.  The  water,  which  is  thrown  off  in  great 
quantities,  is  found  to  hold  in  solution  one  pound 
of  very  fine  salt  to  one  gallon  of  liquid. 

Near  the  base  of  Inyan  Kara  Peak,  is  Salt 
Creek,  which  may  or  may  not  be  the  stream  which 
certain  political  parties  so  often  navigate.  So 
strongly  are  the  waters  there  impregnated  with 
salt,  that  crusts  of  this  staple,  two  and  three  inches 
thick,  and  almost  chemically  pure,  are  formed  on 
the  gravel-beds  which  have  been  recently  over- 
flowed. 

Black  Hills  Salt  Works. 

Thirty-five  miles  south  of  Deadwood  there  is 
another  cluster  of  salt  springs,  forming  a  minia- 
ture salt  river,  on  whose  banks  are  located  the 
salt  works  of  Henderson  &  Co.  These  works, 
produce  a  beautifully  white  and  superior  article  of 
salt,  by  evaporation,  which  obtains  ready  sale  in 
the  Black  Hills  cities  and  mining  camps.  There 
are  six  large  iron  evaporators  in  use  here.  An 
invoice  of  four  thousand  pounds  which  was  sent  to 
Deadwood,  was  accompanied  by  one  of  the  owners, 
who  declared  that  enough  salt  could  be  made  from 
his  springs  to  supply  the  whole  West. 


-502  RAILROAD  FACILITIES. 

Railroads. 

There  is  much  talk  in  the  Black  Hills  about 
railroads,  and  the  desire  of  the  people  is  strong 
to  get  an  outlet  for  their  resources  and  cheaper 
transportation  for  goods  and  merchandise.  There 
is  little  doubt  but  in  the  course  of  time  their  hopes 
will  be  realized,  as  it  seems  hardly  probable  that  a 
country  so  rich  in  resources  as  the  Black  Hills  will 
be  long  left  out  in  the  cold  by  capitalists,  especially 
since  capital  has  invested  such  vast  amounts  in 
Black  Hills  mines. 

A  company  was  organized  in  Cheyenne  more 
than  a  year  ago  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  a 
line  from  the  Union  Pacific  at  that  point  to  Dead- 
wood.  It  was  rumored  that  Jay  Gould  would  push 
the  enterprise  to  completion,  making  it  a  branch  of 
the  Union  Pacific.  A  branch  from  the  Northern 
Pacific,  south  from  Bismark,  has  also  been  con- 
templated; other  projects  have  also  been  men- 
tioned. The  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul 
Railroad  Company,  and  also  the  Chicago  and 
North-western  Company,  have  each  a  line  com- 
pleted nearly  to  the  Missouri  River,  and  it  is 
thought  both  may  eventually  extend  their  lines  to 
the  Black  Hills.  But  how  soon  any  of  these  lines 
may  be  pushed  to  Deadwood,  or  if  any  of  them 
will  be  ever  completed,  is  at  present  guesswork. 

Agricultural  Resources  of  the  Hills. 

When  the  high  prices  and  ready  market  for  all 
kinds  of  grain  and  produce  is  considered,  it  must 


IRRIGA  TION  NE  CESSAR  Y.  ~  Q  * 

be  admitted  that  the  Black  Hills  offer  no  trifling 
inducements  to  the  agriculturist  and  stock  raiser. 
The  Black  Hills  contain  districts  of  splendid  farm- 
ing lands,  the  principal  part  of  them  being  the 
valleys  of  the  Spearfish  and  Redwater  streams  on 
the  north,  and  the  Rapid  and  French  Creek  val- 
leys on  the  south  and  east. 

Those  of  the  Spearfish  and  Redwater  embrace 
an  area  of  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
square  miles  of  good  land ;  enough  for  six  hun- 
dred farms  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  each. 
Of  this  area  only  about  two  hundred  locations 
have  been  made,  and  only  about  fifty  of  these 
have  been  improved  by  cultivation.  Crops  of  all 
kinds  can  and  have  been  successfully  raised  here. 
One  Spearfish  farm  netted  its  owners,  in  1877,  fif- 
teen thousand  dollars,  from  potatoes  alone,  after 
which  the  owners  sold  their  improvements  for 
three  thousand  dollars.  Irrigation  is  necessary  to 
successful  farming  here,  but  the  supply  of  water  is 
ample  to  irrigate  all  the  lands  in  these  valleys. 
The  cultivatable  extent  of  the  Rapid  valley  is 
about  two  hundred  square  miles ;  or  enough  for 
eight  hundred  quarter-section  farms.  Probably 
about  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  loca- 
tions have  been  made,  leaving  room  for  nearly 
seven  hundred  more.  These  lands  can  be  easily 
irrigated  from  the  Rapid  Creek,  and  the  supply  of 
water  is  unfailing. 

In  addition  to  the  lands  named,  there  are  many 


304 


ACREAGE  Ot   CROPS. 


rich  little  valleys  up  among  the  mountains,  large 
enough  to  make  one  or  more  farms  each,  and 
these  are  scattered  all  over  the  Hills,  making  at 
least,  all  told,  half  a  million  acres  of  farming  lands 
in  the  Black  Hills  subject  to  location  under  the 
pre-emption  and  homestead  laws.  It  is,  therefore, 
safe  to  say  that  the  Black  Hills  offer  to  the  farmer 
and  home-seeker  almost  as  great  advantages  as 
to  the  miner  and  prospector ;  and  that  the  indus- 
trious husbandman  can  hardly  fail  of  striking  it 
rich  in  the  golden  harvest  which  is  sure  to  come 
from  his  labors. 

Below  we  give  a  table  showing  the  acreage 
sown  to  grain,  and  planted  with  potatoes,  etc.,  in 
Spearfish  and  Redwater  valleys,  in  1879  : 


NAME    OF   OWNER. 


Joseph  Ramsdell 

OttoUhlig 

John  Maurer 

Commissioner  Jones.., 

Aikman  Bros 

George  Mann 

Robert  Evans , 

George  Stotts 

Mr.  Gross 

James  Ryan 

M.  G.  Tonn 

President  Smith 

C.  Diedrich 

William  Smith 

DeAtley  &  Vanpatten. 

Keets  &  Lepler 

J.  E.Cook 


Carried  forward 297 


£3 

a  all's 

a  *> 

0  .' 

si 

0 
H 

45 

55]  -. 

... 

100 

30 

30     ... 

60 

8 

14 

6' 

28 

35 

21 

6 

62 

9 

22 

10 

3 

... 

44 

45 

25 

1 

8 

1 

80 

30 

25 

25 

3^ 

2 

W/z 

16 

II 

27 

10 

12 

... 

4 

26 

6 

35 

H 

3 

*# 

46 

4 

9 

... 

13 

7 

10 

5 

4 

3 

29 

« 3 

52 

1 

10 

4 

80 

8 

11 

10 

... 

6 

35 

3 

24 

5 

4 

36 

23 

35 

2 

6 

66 

5 

no 

2      4 

4 

125 

297 

501 

51 

i6#| 

6i# 

*sH 

942  >£ 

ACREAGE  CONTINUED. 


305 


NAME    OF   OWNER. 


Brought  forward 

Mr.  Bronson 

W.  Rosenbum 

Dan  Toomy 

Hauser*&  Cameron 

George  Reed 

Gus  Switzer 

J.J.  Baker 

McVay  &  Walters 

Ed.  McLaughlin 

Patrick  Flaherty 

Kenyon 

Dr.  Ralph  

F.  Nelson 

Ed.  Cochlin 

Burns  (mixed  crop»).. 

Gray  &  Carson 

W.  Wallace  (mixed  crop). 

D.  Kemper 

William  Dorset 

P.  C.  Reily. 

Peter  Reily 

D.  T.  Reed 

Mike  Lynch 

Nelson  Bros 

Mussy  Bros 

J.  C.Ryan  Bros 

Muller&  Co 

Aleck  Morecroff. 

M.  M.  Pitts 

O.  Coleman 

C.  Cox  (Garden) 

Elden  Snow 

Henry  Bird 

H.  P.  Waggaman 

Dillon  &  Co 

Wood&  Wilson 

Stoots  Bros 

William  Pettygrew 

Pratt  &  Cohmeg 

Harris  &  Co 

Rand.  Kelly 

. Beaver 

Sellers 

J.Wells 


297 
20 

8 
10 

6 
12 


5oi 
30 
45 
15 
12 

5 


10 

100 

25 

5o 

6 

35 
18 


Carried  forward |  638J1439 


«  5 


cSg 


51 

12 

12 

4 

10 
5 


X 


136  51 


3 
4 

3 


7 
4 
5 
4 
3 
4 

8 

l# 

4 

1 


% 


% 


2 
3 

7 
3 
4 


169H1 


'5# 

I 


942;^ 

53 
63 
29 

3i 

28 

6 

29 

19 
21 

84 
68 
36^ 
9)4 
41 
12 

25 

9 

59 

35 

25 
32 

30 

5 

44 

98 

37 
40 

17 
20 
20 
19 

165 
45 
5o 
12 
70 

35 
21 

25^ 
7 

29 
61 

2335* 


3o6 


OTHER  CROPS. 


NAME  OF   OWNER. 


Brought  forward. 

Ed.  Reed 

J.  Robinson 

Gus.  Hilton 

F.  Littlefield 

Bradly  Bros 

Wm.  Clemmens 

Cooper  &  Walton... 

C.  L.  Smith.. 

John  Arrington 

Thos.  Jefferson 

Christ  Schulz , 


Totals 671  1483    142    62 


638 
2 
3 
3 

1 

5 

20 

18 

20 

6 

4 


ci    '— 

o  a 


1439 
3 
6 

7 
6 

3 
68 

8 
20 

6 

7 


JTs 


136 


m  2 


iK 


69J 
2 
I 
2 
I* 

6 
3 

4 

2 
5 
4 


U  cs 


2001  66    2614 


2335^ 

8 

10 

™y2 

10 

11 

93^ 

36 

45 

17 

20 


In  addition,  buckwheat  has  been  sown  as  fol- 
lows: J.  E.  Cook,  5  acres;  W.  Rosenbum,  3;  P. 
Reilly,  4;  D.  T.  Reed,  6;  W.  Pettygrew,  6;  C.  L. 
Smith,  1 ;  C.  Schulz,  1 . 

Sugarcane :  J.  Ramsdell,  20  acres ;  W.  Bron- 
son,  5;  Hauser  &  Co.,  2^;  W.  Pettygrew,  3^; 
J.Wells,  iyi\  G.  Hilton,  1;  Cooper  &  Watson, 
4;  C.  L.  Smith,  4;  C.  Schulz,  1. 

Grape,  currant,  blackberry  and  strawberry 
plants  are  in  fine  condition.  Some  ripe  fruit  se- 
cured July  7th  from  plants  set  out  last  April. 

Black  Hills  Freights. 

One  of  the  most  striking  illustrations  of  the 
marvelous  development  of  the  Black  Hills  region 
is  the  existence  and  prosperous  condition  of  the 
great  freight  lines  which  convey  supplies  thither 
from  the  railroads.     In  this  Black  Hills  forwarding 


FREIGHTS  HANDLED.  ^07 

business  there  are  regularly  employed  one  thou- 
sand four  hundred  large  freight  wagons,  one  thou- 
sand three  hundred  men  and  eight  thousand  ani- 
mals. They  are  capable  of  moving  at  one  loading 
six  million  pounds  of  freight.  During  1878  they 
transported  twenty-five  million  pounds  of  supplies 
from  the  railroads  to  the  Black  Hills  cities  and 
camps,  and,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  statement 
below,  are  doing  even  better  this  year. 

The  following  are  estimates  of  receipts  by  the  dif- 
ferent routes  for  the  year  ending  July  15th,  1879: 

Sidney  route,        .  .  10,900,000  pounds. 

Cheyenne  route,  .  .  .  4,000,000        " 

Fort  Pierre  route,  .  .  7,000,000        " 

Bismark  route,     .  .  .  6,000,000        " 


Total  receipts,  .         ,         .     27,900,000 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

DISCOVERY   OF   GOLD   IN   THE   CENTENNIAL   STATE. 

Colorado  and  the  Gunnison. 

FOR  ten  years  after  the  wonderful  discoveries 
of  1 848-49  in  California,  a  stream  of  immi- 
gration had  been  pouring  across  the  con- 
tinent, over  a  route  a  little  to  the  north  and  in 
plain  view  of  the  snow-clad  summits  and  glistening 
peaks,  beneath  which  and  in  whose  bosom  lay 
treasures  of  gold,  only  equaled  by  the  rich  finds 
on  the  Pacific  Coast.  Little  the  traveler  dreamed 
(that  here,  half-way  on  his  long  journey,  almost  at 
his  feet,  lay  the  "  Golden  Fleece,"  of  which  he  was 
in  search. 

The  "crisis,"  or  hard  times  of  1857,  was  the  in- 
centive which  drove  some  dissatisfied  adventurers 
from  the  East,  among  whom  were  a  few  Georgia 
and  California  miners,  to  search  for  new  fields  for 
discovery  and  adventure.  Here  was  a  vast  un- 
known region  suitable  for  their  purpose.  It  had 
then  not  even  a  name.  Lying  on  both  sides  of 
the  Rockies,  it  might  properly  be  called  a  saddle 
on  the  "back-bone  of  the  continent" — that  lying 
on  the  eastern  slope  was  considered  as  a  part  of 
Kansas,  and  that  portion  west  of  the  range  a  part 
of  Utah  Territory. 


PVtli    ' 


PIKE'S  PEAK  NAMED.  ^Qq 

In  1858  this  little  band  of  explorers,  headed  by 
Greene  and  Russell,  passed  up  the  Platte  River  to 
the  foot-hills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  a  few 
of  the  experienced  miners  began  to  prospect  for 
gold.  Panning  out  some  of  the  earth  along  the 
streams  they  found  colors ;  this  led  to  a  more  ex- 
tended search,  and  resulted  in  the  finding  of  small 
quantities  of  the  metal  and  a  few  gulches  of  con- 
siderable richness. 

The  Pike's  Peak  Gold  Excitement. 

This  was  enough  to  start  the  rumor  of  gold  and 
to  attract  a  considerable  population  to  the  district 
before  the  autumn.  This  section  became  known 
as  the  Pike's  Peak  gold  region. 

In  1 805,  Lieutenant  Pike  had  visited  the  region 
with  a  few  soldiers,  and  passing  on  down  to  the 
Rio  Grande  River,  he  was  captured  by  the  Spanish 
military  forces  stationed  in  that  vicinity,  who  at 
that  time  claimed  the  country ;  but  he  was  after- 
ward released.  From  this  fact  a  prominent  peak 
was  named  Pike's  Peak,  in  his  honor. 

In  the  fall  of  1858  the  pioneer  gold  hunters 
founded  several  towns,  among  which  were  Denver, 
Auroria,  Boulder  and  Fountain  City.  With  the 
spring  of  1859  there  came  a  rush  to  the  newr found 
gold  diggings,  such  as  can  only  be  compared  to 
the  one  often  years  previous  to  California.  The 
road  across  the  plain  during  the  spring  months 
was  one  continuous  line  of  vehicles  and  prairie 
19 


-  x  0  CA  USE  OF  FA  IL  UXES. 

"schooners,"    a  caravan   of  excited  pilgrims,   all 
bound  for  the  land  of  promise. 

"Pike's  Peak  or  Bust." 

It  is  said  that  an  inscription  on  one  of  those 
canvas-covered  equipages  at  that  time  read, 
"Pike's  Peak  or  Bust,"  and  we  presume,  if  the 
unwritten  history  of  that  outfit  could  be  known, 
the  probabilities  are  that  it  "busted;"  for  it  is  a 
fact  that  about  nine  out  of  every  ten  of  the  stam- 
peders  to  the  region  at  this  time  met  with  disaster 
or  misfortune.  Probably  fifty  thousand  men,  more 
or  less,  aided  in  swelling  the  population  of  the 
then  unnamed  Colorado  during  that  year.  Of 
course,  there  were  not  opportunities  for  such  a  vast 
influx  of  people  to  find  profitable  employment  in 
the  limited  extent  of  country  then  known  to  con- 
tain gold.  As  is  always  the  case,  many  were 
young  men,  ignorant  and  inexperienced  in  mining, 
and  altogether  unfit  for  the  trials  and  hardships  of 
a  new  country,  far  beyond  the  limits  of  civilization. 
Therefore,  many  returned  ere  the  summer  was 
gone,  disheartened  and  discourged. 

As  the  population  increased,  miners  began  to 
extend  their  explorations  into  more  distant  locali- 
ties. No  mountain  was  so  steep  and  no  canon  so 
deep  and  rugged  as  to  shut  out  the  ever-resolute 
seeker  for  gold. 

About  this  time,  quartz  veins  of  gold-bearing 
ores  began  to  be  discovered  and  located.    Among 


GRE  G  OR  Y  VEIN.  *  x  j 

the  most  prominent  quartz  districts  at  this  time 
was  that  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  towns  of 
Central  City  and  Black  Hawk.  John  H.  Gregory 
discovered  a  great  gold-bearing  vein,  which  has 
since  been  known  by  his  name,  and  which  is  said 
to  have  yielded  more  money  than  any  other  fis- 
sure in  Colorado.  Thus  began  a  new  industry; 
stampedes  were  in  order  all  over  the  State,  to 
points  wherever  a  new  district  was  formed  or 
quartz  mines  discovered,  and  locations  of  mines 
were  plentiful. 

The  first  stamp-mill  was  brought  into  the  Greg- 
ory district  in  1859,  and  the  first  newspaper  was 
established  in  Denver,  in  April  of  the  same  year, 
and  called  the  Rocky  Mountain  News.  During 
this  time  the  placer  mines,  though  not  extraordi- 
nary rich,  were  yielding  bountifully.  Some  gulches 
were  producing  wonderful  amounts  of  gold. 

The  yield  of  gold  in  Colorado,  for  the  year 
1859,  was  not  far  from  five  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  that  of  the  following  year  (i860)  was 
over  three  millions.  In  the  spring  of  i860,  mining 
was  very  active,  new-comers  to  the  gold-fields  were 
still  very  plentiful,  Denver  and  other  towns  were 
growing  very4  fast.  Over  fifty  quartz-mills  were 
brought  into  the  country  and  had  commenced 
pounding  out  gold.  About  thirty  Mexican  arras- 
tras  were  also  in  use  grinding  out  the  gold  ores 
of  the  section.  During  the  summer,  some  miners 
in    search    of    new   diggings    entered    California 


312 


COL  OR  AD  O  OR  GANIZED. 


Gulch,  now  in  Lake  County,  on  the  banks  of  which 
the  city  of  Leadville  is  situated,  and  found  gold 
there.  Simultaneously  other  new  districts  were 
discovered,  and  mining  was  exceedingly  lively  that 
summer. 

Gregory  and  Russel  Gulches,  now  in  Gilpin 
County,  yielded  abundantly.  California  and  Geor- 
gia Gulches  produced  an  astonishing  amount  of 
gold  dust ;  some  diggings  having,  it  is  said,  aver- 
aged a  pound  of  gold  per  day  to  the  man,  and 
frequently  an  oyster  can  was  filled  with  gold  in  a 
single  day  from  one  claim.  Spring  Gulch,  at  Cen- 
tral City,  also  produced  a  considerable  amount  of 
dust.  These  gulch  and  placer  mines  in  four  years 
after  their  discovery  had,  it  is  estimated,  yielded 
over  fifteen  millions  of  dollars  in  gold.  The  gold 
quartz  mines  at  this  time  had  also  begun  to  pro- 
duce largely.     Silver  had  not  yet  been  discovered. 

A  Bit  of  History. 

In  February,  1861,  Congress  organized  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Colorado,  and  fixed  its  boundaries  the 
same  as  the  present  State.  Previous  attempts  at 
organization  had  failed,  and  the  country  had  only 
succeded,  through  a  representative  sent  to  the 
Kansas  Legislature,  late  in  1858,  in  getting  the 
County  of  Arapahoe  organized,  embracing  all  of 
western  Kansas,  reaching  to  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. The  first  Governor  appointed  was  William 
Gilpin,  who  reached  Denver  in  May,  1861.     The 


YIELD  OF  METAL.  3  j  3 

new  Territory  embraced  an  area  of  one  hundred 
and  four  thousand  five  hundred  square  miles,  or 
more  than  any  other  State  except  Texas  and  Cali- 
fornia. A  census  taken  at  this  time  showed  a 
population  of  about  twenty-five  thousand,  of  whom 
only  four  thousand  were  females.  In  1862  and 
1863,  large  numbers  of  miners  left  the  failing 
placer  mines,  and  sought  new  and  distant  camps. 
About  this  time,  Montana  and  Idaho  came  to  the 
front  as  gold  producers,  and  the  fame  of  Alder 
Gulch  was  spread  far  and  wide. 

Still  the  mines  of  Colorado  continued  to  pro- 
duce largely,  and  up  to  the  present  time  (1880), 
have  produced,  in  gold  and  silver,  not  far  from  one 
hundred  millions  of  dollars.  The  year  1 879,  alone, 
produced  a  little  less  than  twenty  millions  in  gold 
and  silver  bullion,  and  in  the  twenty  years  in  which 
mining  has  been  actively  carried  on  in  Colorado, 
an  average  of  five  millions  per  annum  has  been 
reached. 

The  following  tables  will  show  the  yield  of  gold, 
silver  and  copper,  etc.,  for  the  various  years  since 
1858. 


Year.  Coin  Value  * 


1859 $500,000 

i860 3,250,000 

l8(6l , ,  3,250,000 

1862  - 3,400,000 

1863 3,400,000 

1864. 3,350,000 


Year.  Coin  Value.* 


1865 $2,525,000 

1866 1,575,000 

1867 1,750,000 

l868  2,000,706 

1869 2,482,375 


*Some  of  these  estimates  given  by  "Fosset's  Colorado" — other  authors 
differ. 


3H 


EXCESS  OF  SIL  VER% 


Year. 


Gold. 


Silver.    Copper 


Lead.       Total. 


Previous  to  1870. 

1870 , 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 

1878 


Total.. 


$27,213,081 
2,000,000 
2,000,000 
1,725,000 
1,750,000 
2,002,487 
2,161,475 
2,726,315 
3,148,707 
3,490,384 


$330,000 
650,000 
1,029,046 
2,015,000 
2,185,000 
3,096,023 
3,122,912 

3,3i5,592 
3,726,379 
6,341.807 


$40,000 
20,000 
30,000 
45,000 
65,000 
90,197 
90,000 
70,000 
93,796 


$5,000 
28,000 
73,676 
60,000 
80,000 
247,400 
636,924 


$3,790,003 
4,028,000 
5,262,383 

5,434,387 
6,191,907 
7,216,283 
10,558,116 


For  the  year  1879,  the  total  production  nearly- 
doubled.  Various  estimates  differ  greatly  from 
different  sources,  but  we  give  below  one  which  is 
generally  conceded  to  be  correct. 

Production  of  Colorado,  1879. 


Lake  County $11,477,046 

Gilpin     "      2,608,055 

Clear  Creek 1,912,410 

Boulder 800,000 

Custer.-. 720,000 

Park 434,449 


Gunnison $300,000 

Summit 295»7I7 

Chaffie 71,240 

San  Juan 483,500 


Total $19,102,417 

The  Denver  Tribune  reported  it,  $19,119,007. 
The  Rocky  Mountain  News  (Denver),  $25,335,483. 
Frank  Fosset,  it  is  said,  estimates  at  $18,650,000. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  foregoing  that,  in  1872, 
the  product  of  silver  began  to  exceed  that  of  gold 
in  Colorado,  and  has  been  largely  in  excess  of  it 
ever  since.  In  fact,  in  the  year  1879,  the  produc- 
tion of  silver  is  over  three  times  that  of  gold,  so 
it  will  be  seen  the  silver  interests  are  foremost  at 
present  in  the  State, 

The  First  Silver  Discoveries  in  Colorado. 

Leadville  is  the  phenomenal  camp  of  the  year, 
increasing  from  a  production  of  three  millions  one 
hundred  and  fifty-two  thousand  nine  hundred  and 


CENTENNIAL  STATE.  ^jt* 

twenty-five  dollars,  in  1878,  to  eleven  and  one-half 
millions  in  1879,  which  is  probably  the  greatest 
record  in  any  mining  district  in  the  whole  world. 
The  production  of  this  camp  being  chiefly  silver, 
makes  the  proportion  of  silver  production  to  that 
of  gold  much  greater  in  1879  tnan  ever  before. 

The  first  important  silver  discoveries  were  made 
in  the  vicinity  of  Georgetown,  in  1864-65,  which 
proved  to  be  rich  in  silver.  This  was  but  the  be- 
ginning of  similar  discoveries  everywhere.  By 
1870  there  was  rich  silver  districts  all  over  the 
State,  but  no  considerable  production  on  account 
of  the  lack  of  smelting- works  until  1871-72,  since 
which  time  the  production  of  this  metal  has  stead- 
ily increased.  In  the  winter  of  1874-75,  Congress 
passed  an  act  enabling  Colorado  to  become  a 
State.  It  was  provided  that,  upon  the  adoption  of 
a  Constitution  by  the  people  of  the  Territory,  that 
it  should  be  received  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1876. 

Colorado  Admitted  to  the  Union — The  Centennial  State. 

Accordingly,  a  Constitution  was  adopted,  and 
Colorado  became  the  Centennial  State.  It  was 
provided  in  the  new  Constitution  that  no  appro- 
priation of  funds  should  be  made  for  the  purpose 
of  State  buildings  within  five  years,  or  until  after 
the  first  of  January,  1881,  consequently  Colorado 
has  no  capitol  buildings  or  State  buildings  of  any 
sort  at   present.     The    first    Legislature    met   in 


3J6 


GENERAL   WEALTH. 


Denver,  in  November,  1876,  and  Jerome  B: 
Chaffee  and  Henry  M.  Teller  were  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate.  From  1876  to  the  present 
time,  Colorado's  history  is  one  of  unexampled 
prosperity.  Towns  and  cities  sprung  into  life  and 
grew  with  wonderful  rapidity.  Railroads  traverse 
the  State  in  all  directions.  It  has  now  a  popula- 
tion of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  with  over 
two  hundred  towns  and  cities,  and  about  one  hun- 
dred millions  in  taxable  wealth.  It  has  over  sixty 
newspapers,  of  which  nearly  twenty  are  dailies  ; 
schools,  colleges,  churches,  and  some  of  the  best 
educational  institutions  in  the  West.  What  won- 
derful achievements  in  only  twenty  years !  Ten 
years  ago  it  had  not  a  railroad,  now. there  are 
fifteen  hundred  miles  of  road  within  the  limits  of 
the  State.  Three  great  through  lines  bring  traffic 
and  travel  from  the  East.  The  Union  Pacific, 
Kansas  Pacific,  and  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa 
Fe.  Six  railroads  centre  at  Denver  and  extend 
their  arms  out  to  all  parts  of  the  State. 

Though  Colorado  is  for  the  most  part  a  moun- 
tainous country,  she  has  other  rich  resources  be- 
sides those  of  her  gold  and  silver  mines.  She 
possesses  a  vast  area. of  coal  deposits,  and  great 
facilities  for  stock  raising-.  Wherever  irrigation  is 
practicable,  her  soil  can  be  made  to  produce 
abundantly.  Her  stock  ranges  are  of  vast  extent 
and  not  excelled  in  quality  of  nutritious  grasses. 
Cattle  winter  out  on  her  plains  without  attention. 


PROSPECTIVE  WEALTH.  ^y 

She  has  about  nine  hundred  thousand  head  of 
cattle  and  not  far  from  two  million  five  hundred 
thousand  sheep,  the  combined  value  of  which  is 
not  less  than  eighteen  millions  of  dollars.  The 
business  of  stock  and  sheep  raising  has  been  a 
very  profitable  one,  and  will  continue  to  be,  and 
will  increase  to  wonderful  proportions.  There  are 
still  thousands  of  acres  unoccupied  by  ranches  or 
cattle  ranges,  and  the  new  treaty  made  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  with  the  Ute  Indians, 
lately  ratified  by  Congress,  will  open  up  for  settle- 
ment a  vast  extent  of  fertile  country,  exceptionally 
well  adapted  to  stock  raising,  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  The  country  possesses  a  milder 
climate  in  winter,  broader  and  richer  valleys,  and 
more  level  plains,  together  with  more  frequent 
showers  than  is  found  on  the  Eastern  slope.  In 
addition  to  these  resources,  the  New  Gunnison 
country  and  the  Ute  reservation  is  rich  in  mineral 
resources  and  coal,  and  the  future  and  prospective 
wealth  of  the  country,  which  is  soon  to  be  opened 
up  by  railroads,  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 


CHAPTER  XV 

ONWARD  TO  THE  GUNNISON  COUNTRY  OVER  THE   BACKBONE  OF  THE  CON- 
TINENT. 

RETURNING  irom  our  trip  to  the  Black 
Hills,  we  take  up  the  narrative  of  our 
journey,  where  we  dropped  it  at  Sidney,  and 
pass  on  over  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  to  Colo- 
rado and  the  Gunnison  country,  and  over  the 
snowy  range  to  the  land  of  promise. 

The  plain  along  the  railway,  west  of  Sidney, 
presents  the  same  dry,  sterile  and  barren  appear- 
ance as  farther  east ;  yet  it  is  a  great  cattle  coun- 
try, and  herds  are  hardly  ever  out  of  sight. 
Droves  of  antelope,  in  numbers  of  from  four  to 
eight,  are  plentiful,  and  can  be  seen  galloping  across 
the  country  very  frequently,  and  often  a  solitary 
horseman  or  "  cow-boy"  can  be  seen  in  the  dis- 
tance cantering  along  on  his  pony,  who  looks 
lonely  enough  in  the  vast  labyrinth  of  plain  which 
surrounds  him. 

In  about  three  hours  after  leaving  Sidney,  we 

came  in  sight  of  the  grand  old  Rocky  Mountains, 

covered  with  snow,  and,  about  this  time,  passed 

through  one  of  the  longest  snow-sheds  on   the 

Union   Pacific  Railway.     Our    train    soon   after 

pulled  into  Cheyenne,  five  hundred   and  sixteen 

miles  from  Omaha.     Elevation,  six  thousand  and 

318 


THE  SNOW-CAPPED  ROCKIES. 


CHEYENNE  TO  DENVER. 


3*9 


forty-one  feet,  and  having  a  population  of  four 
thousand  five  hundred.  It  is  well  built,  partly  of 
brick,  and  is  a  busy,  bustling  town. 

From  Cheyenne  to  Denver,  via  the  Denver  Pa- 
cific Railway  (one  hundred  and  six  miles),  the 
snow-capped  Rockies  were  ever  in  sight,  present- 
ing to  the  eye  a  grand  spectacle,  in  striking  con- 
trast to  the  dry  desert  plain  we  had  just  crossed, 
and  which,  in  fact,  we  were  still  crossing.  Moun- 
tain rises  above  mountain,  peak  above  peak  from 
the  foothill  westward  in  the  distance,  their  sum- 
mits white  with  snow  and  their  peaks  fairly  touch- 
ing the  clouds,  presents  a  picture  which  few  having 
seen  can  ever  forget. 

The  country  along  the  road  south  of  Cheyenne 
is  the  same  rolling,  barren,  dried-up  pasture-land, 
which  we  had  seen  farther  east;  no  water,  no 
springs,  no  trees,  no  grass,  but,  if  anything,  more 
barren  and  sandy  than  any  section  we  have  ever 
seen.  Yet  the  country  is  all  taken  up  with 
ranches,  and  frequent  herds  of  cattle  are  seen. 

Long's  Peak  rises  before  us  a  monument  of 
greatness,  its  summit  touching  the  very  clouds ;  a 
cool,  delightful,  health-giving  breeze  blows  from 
off  these  snow-capped  peaks,  which  in  conjunction 
with  this  elevated  atmosphere,  is  exhilarating  in 
the  extreme ;  yet  with  so  much  snow  in  sight,  the 
weather  this  day  was  very  warm,  and  we  almost 
felt  the  need  of  summer  clothing. 

As  we  approached  Greeley,  in  the  South  Platte 


320  A  TEMPERANCE  TOWN. 

Valley,  the  country  grew  better,  and  we  began  to 
see  evidences  of  civilization ;  an  occasional  farm- 
house dotted  the  plain,  and  vast  areas  of  plowed 
fields  met  our  view.  We  now  frequently  crossed 
great  irrigating  canals,  many  miles  in  length, 
which  bring  down  from  the  snowy  range  the  very 
essence  of  life  and  vigor  to  the  growing  crops. 
Indeed,  without  irrigation,  the  farmers  of  Greeley 
would  be  unable  to  raise  even  a  scanty  subsist- 
ence, except  in  the  way  of  cattle,  which  here,  as 
elsewhere  in  Colorado,  is  a  leading  industry. 
Greeley  claims  three  thousand  five  hundred  popu- 
lation ;  its  elevation  is  four  thousand  four  hundred 
feet.  It  has  not  a  single  saloon  or  bar  in  the 
whole  city;  it  is,  in  fact,  a  cold  water  town.  The 
founders  of  the  city  prohibited  the  sale  of  liquors 
upon  these  lands  by  inserting  contracts  to  this  ef- 
fect in  the  deeds  given  for  lots,  and  parties  violat- 
ing this  rule  forfeit  their  titles. 

It  was  very  dry  in  this  section  (not  on  account 
of  above  facts),  very  little  rain  ever  falling.  A 
gentleman  told  us  that  it  had  been  about  eight 
months  since  rain  had  fallen,  though  snow  had 
fallen  within  the  time.  We  arrived  in  Denver  be- 
tween seven  and  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  in 
time  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  city  by  daylight. 

Denver  is  six  hundred  and  twenty-two  miles 
from  Omaha,  and  about  two  thousand  miles,  more 
or  less,  from  New  York.  Its  elevation  is  about  five 
thousand   and   forty-eight  feet.     It  is  pleasantly 


A  RUSH  OF  TRAVEL.  ^21 

situated  on  a  gentle  slope  facing  the  South  Platte 
River,  surrounded  by'a  sandy  plain,  in  which  there 
is  plenty  of  alkali  and  cactus — to  all  appearance  a 
desert — yet  which  with  irrigation  produces  abun- 
dantly. It  is  a  busy,  bustling  city,  the  streets 
being  almost  blocked  at  times  with  the  rush  of 
travel.  The  city  seemed  to  be  full  of  strangers  ; 
the  hotels  were  filled  to  overflowing;  one  hotel 
turned  away  over  a  hundred  guests  one  night, 
being  unable  to  keep  them.  The  hotel  arrivals 
had  been  nearly  six  hundred  daily  for  a  couple  of 
weeks,  and  still  they  came.  Many  of  them  were 
"tender  feet"  and  "pilgrims"  from  the  East,  bound 
for  the  mining  camps  of  Leadville,  Rico,  the  San 
Juan  and  Gunnison  regions.  Hotels  and  board- 
ing-houses were  thriving,  and  the  prosperity 
seemed  to  extend  to  merchants  and  tradesmen  of 
all  classes. 

Wishing  to  hire  a  room,  we  inquired  prices 
where  we  saw  a  shingle  out,  "Rooms  to  Let,"  and 
were  told  that  the  rooms  had  just  been  taken  at 
twenty-five  dollars  per  month — a  small  room,  with 
one  bed — and  the  landlady  said  she  had  received 
forty  applications  for  it  up  to  three  o'clock  P.  M. 

To  all  appearance  there  was  a  vast  army  of 
strangers  here,  crowding  the  hotels,  thronging  the 
streets,  a  restless,  surging,  eager  mass  of  people, 
anxiously  waiting  for  the  snow  to  melt  in  the 
mountain  passes,  so  they  could  reach  the  Gunni- 
son country,  which  appeared  to  be  the  objective 


322 


LOW  WA  GESS  HIGH  B  OARDING. 


point  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  people  we  met,  and 
to  which  all  the  world  seemed  to  be  going  en 
masse.  Here  they  were  waiting  for  something  to 
"turn  up,"  or  anxiously  looking  for  employment, 
which  many  were  seeking  and  few  found,  as  there 
were  a  dozen  applicants  for  every  position  save 
in  the  line  of  skilled  mechanics  alone;  wages  were 
low  and  board  was  high.  Mechanics  got  two  to 
two  dollars  and  a  half  or  three  dollars  per  day, 
and  paid  seven  dollars  per  week  for  board.  Other 
laborers  got  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  dollars 
per  month  and  board.  We  saw  one  poor  fellow, 
with  a  sad  countenance,  inquiring  "where  the  em- 
ployment office  was."  Another  sorry-looking 
young  man  came  to  our  hotel,  inquiring  if  any 
more  cooks  were  wanted,  and  was  answered 
"none."  By  the  way,  there  are  few  women  in  this 
city  comparatively,  and  the  cooks  are  all  men. 
The  cooking  and  waiting  at  the  hotels  is  all  done 
by  men;  these  men  get  from  twenty-five  to  thirty 
dollars  per  month,  while  women  as  chambermaids 
are  wanted  and  advertised  for  constantly,  at  the 
same  wages  per  month.  The  city  is  well  built, 
mostly  of  brick,  and  some  costly  buildings  were 
being  erected.  Lieutenant-Governor  H.  A.  W. 
Tabor  was  building  an  elegant  block  of  stores 
and  a  mammoth  hotel,  to  cost  probably  from  three 
hundred  to  five  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  and 
another  hotel,  equally  as  large,  was  being  built  by 
a  stock  company,  to  be  called  the  "Windsor." 


INC  ON  VENIENCES.  3  2  3 

The  Denyer  Post-office. 

Denver  needs  a  new  post-office,  as  the  present 
facilities  are  inadequate  to  the  vast  number  who 
have  to  be  waited  on  daily.  Here  we  were  daily 
witnesses  of  sights  to  us  most  strange.  Each 
evening,  after  the  Eastern  mail  was  distributed, 
there  was  to  be  seen  the  greatest  crowd  of  people 
which  it  was  ever  our  experience  to  see  at  a  post- 
office.  There  are  two  delivery-windows,  one  for 
letters  directed  to  names  from  A  to  L,  and  the 
other  from  M  to  Z ;  to  each  of  these  windows 
there  was  a  line  of  men — single  file,  and  packed 
closely,  frequently  from  seventy-five  to  one  hun- 
dred feet  long,  if  it  were  in  straight  line — waiting 
for  their  turn  to  get  mail.  Frequently  we  had  to 
wait  an  hour  before  we  could  reach  the  delivery- 
window.  We  were  told  that  at  the  Leadville  post- 
office  even  a  larger  crowd  is  found  at  the  window. 

At  the  banks  one  has  to  wait  in  a  similar  man- 
ner, and  the  stores,  shops  and  other  places  pre- 
sented the  same  crowded  appearance,  and  the 
hotels  were  more  than  full,  and  for  sleeping  ar- 
rangements most  of  them  have  what  they  term  a 
"corral,"  i.  e.,  a  large  room  or  hall,  with  many 
rows  of  bunks  close  together,  with  a  capacity  to 
accommodate  a  "herd"  of  people  when  the  rooms 
are  all  filled.  Even  the  barber  shops  were  so  full 
as  to  cause  us  considerable  detention  in  getting 
our  shave. 

Just  outside  of  the  city  people  were  living  in 


^24  MONE  Y  BRO UGHT  IN. 

tents  and  shanties  of  all  descriptions.  A  little  cal- 
culation gives  some  idea  of  the  amount  of  money 
which  was  coming  here  from  abroad,  and  being 
spent  monthly,  which  helped  to  keep  up  the  present 
prosperity.  Here  were  five  hundred  and  fifty  ar- 
rivals daily ;  they  spend  for  board  from  one  dollar 
and  fifty  cents  to  four  dollars  per  day,  besides  this 
many  were  spending  money  freely  for  drink  and 
cigars,  and  at  the  theatre,  and  some  were  buying 
blankets  and  supplies.  It  is  probable  that  five 
dollars  per  day  was  less  than  the  average  expense 
of  each  arrival.  But,  say  five  hundred  and  fifty 
arrivals,  at  four  dollars  per  day,  equals  two  thou- 
sand two  hundred  dollars  per  day,  equals  sixty-six 
thousand  dollars  per  month  left  there  by  strangers 
alone. 

There  was  a  great  excitement  about  the  Gunni- 
son country,  and  even  the  old  gray-headed  miners 
of  twenty  years  ago,  who  had  resided  here  so  long> 
were  all  more  or  less  affected  by  it,  many  of  them 
were  going,  and  here  in  Denver  we  did  not  hear 
much  else  but  Gunnison.  The  papers  were  full  of 
it,  and  we  heard  it  at  every  corner  on  the  streets. 
"Prairie  schooners"  passed  every  day,  with  cards 
out,  "  Passengers  for  the  Gunnison,"  and  Gunni- 
son city  lots  were  offered  on  "speck"  by  the  real 
estate  dealers  by  the  hundred.  There  was  cer- 
tainly to  be  a  big  stampede  to  the  Indian  country 
this  summer.  It  seemed  strange  that  people  would 
rush  to  such  places  in  a  regular  "  stampede,"  re- 


WILLING  TO  SUFFER.  -2,- 

peating  the  history  of  "  '49"  to  California  and  that 
of  ten  years  later  to  Pike's  Peak.  The  result  of 
all  this  will,  of  necessity,  be  much  hardship  and 
suffering 

The  hardships  and  trials  that  men  will  endure 
for  the  sake  of  prospecting  for  gold,  is  wonderful. 
Hundreds  of  people  had  already  gone  to  the  Gun- 
nison, and  were  camping  out  in  tents  on  snow 
which  was  in  places  two  feet  deep.  An  old  pros- 
pector told  one  of  our  party  that  at  one  time  in  his 
experience  he  lived  in  the  San  Juan  country  two 
months  on  "  ruta  baga  turnips.''  He  remarked 
that  it  "  didn't  make  him  very  fat,  but  it  was  better 
than  nothing." 

The  streets  of  Denver  are  very  dusty  and  dirty, 
notwithstanding  they  sprinkle  constantly.  It  being 
very  dry  and  sandy,  the  wind  brings  in  a  regular 
shower  of  dust  and  sand,  which  is  so  full  of  alkalies 
that  it  parches  the  lips  and  causes  the  eyes  to 
smart,  and  is  far  from  agreeable,  yet  the  clear  sky 
and  dry,  pleasant  weather  is  delightful,  and  one 
soon  gets  accustomed  to  sand-storms  and  will 
dodge  a  cloud  upon  its  approach  by  stepping  inside 
a  shop  or  behind  a  corner. 

The  "almond-eyed"  race  are  well  represented 
in  this  city,  one  sees  them  everywhere.  Near  our 
hotel,  from  probably  the  poorest  and  oldest  shanty 
in  the  city,  hung  a  sign,  "  Sing  Lee,  Laundry." 
Wishing  to  view  the  premises,  and  having  some 
collars  to  wash,  we  rapped  at  the  door  of  Sing 
20 


326 


SING  LEE'S  LAUNDRY. 


Lee,  and  were  greeted  by  "  Come  in,"  spoken  in 
good  English ;  we  opened  the  door,  and  to  our 
surprise,  in  a  little  room,  twelve  feet  square,  saw 
five  Chinamen  busy  as  bees,  washing,  ironing  and 
folding  clothes ;  one  was  upon  his  knees,  bending 
over  a  low  box,  on  which  was  spread  a  shirt  which 
he  was  rubbing  hard  with  some  sort  of  a  brush, 
dipping  it  occasionally  into  water.  All  about  the 
room,  in  every  conceivable  shape,  and  occupying 
nearly  every  foot  of  space,  except  that  occupied 
by  the  stove,  were  hanging  or  lying  in  piles  clothes 
of  every  description. 

Everything  in  the  line  of  bedding  or  furniture 
was  of  the  most  squalid  and  dirty  sort.  We  in- 
quired prices  of  washing,  and  found  them  to  be 
fifteen  cents  for  shirts,  five  cents  for  collars  and 
handkerchiefs,  and  five  cents  for  stockings.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  took  Sing  to  our  room  to  get  our 
bundle,  when  it  occurred  to  us  to  offer  him  a  bar- 
gain. We  had  with  us  a  couple  of  boxes  of  pro- 
visions, containing  cake,  cookies,  biscuit,  bread, 
and,  in  fact,  the  best  of  everything  needed  for 
white  men  to  eat ;  this  we  showed  Sing  Lee,  and 
offered  it  to  him  for  washing  two  collars.  But,  ah, 
no !  Sing  had  rather  eat  boiled  rice,  stewed  rat, 
and  imported  Chinese  supplies,  than  such  trash, 
and  he  shook  his  head,  and  answered,  "  No  !  no !" 
However,  we  must  say  that  Sing  Lee  did  us  a 
good  job  in  washing,  and  shirts  and  collars  wore 
the  finest  possible  gloss  and  finish. 


LOCATION  AND  GROWTH.  ^2  7 

Denver  City. 

Denver  is,  undoubtedly,  the  best  built  city  be- 
tween St.  Louis  and  the  Pacific  coast.  Brick  and 
stone  have  been  the  materials  chiefly  used  in  its 
construction,  and  very  few  of  the  old-time,  scrawny 
or  shabby  wooden  structures  remain  to  be  seen. 
Her  growth  has  probably  been  more  rapid,  and 
her  prospects  are,  perhaps,  more  brilliant  than 
any  other  city  in  the  Far  West.  The  far-famed 
Leadville  is  the  only  town  which  can  show  a  record 
of  growth  to  compare  with  Denver,  and,  of  course, 
the  former  can  never  become  a  commercial  centre 
or  distributing  point  equal  to  the  latter. 

Denver  is  situated  at  the  junction  of  Cherry 
Creek  with  the  Platte  River,  and  was  once — 
strange  as  it  may  seem  in  a  country  ordinarily  so 
dry — visited  by  a  terrible  flood  from  the  former 
stream.  A  terrific  thunder-shower  in  the  night 
raised  Cherry  Creek  to  a  huge  mountain  torrent, 
washing  away  a  portion  of  the  city,  and  causing 
the  loss  of  many  lives  and  a  sacrifice  of  thousands 
of  dollars  worth  of  property.  At  the  time  of  our 
visit,  Cherry  Creek  was  a  dry  water-course,  with- 
out a  drop  of  water.  The  pioneer  gold-hunters 
found  gold  in  this  stream  in  the  vicinity  of  Denver, 
and  also  in  the  bars  of  the  Platte  River,  which,  un- 
doubtedly, caused  the  town  to  be  laid  out  on  the 
present  site.  Even  yet  it  is  said  gold  can  be 
found  in  the  gravel  taken  from  the  cellars  in  some 
of  the  lower  streets  in  the  city ;  although,  of  course, 
in  very  small  quantities. 


328 


POPULATION  OF  DENVER. 


The  floating  population  of  Denver  is  always 
large,  and  it  is  claimed  that  no  other  city  of  double 
its  population  does  half  the  hotel  business  of  Den- 
ver. In  almost  an  equal  degree  is  the  mercantile 
and  jobbing  trade  remarkable.  Single  firms  of 
wholesale  grocers  sold  one  and  a  half  millions' 
worth  of  goods  last  season,  and  jobbers  in  other 
branches  of  business  nearly  as  much.  Denver  is 
the  receiving  and  distributing  point  for  an  im- 
mense industry  and  population,  while  half  a  dozen 
railways  centre  there  and  help  carry  on  the  work. 

During  the  last  year  not  less  than  one  hundred 
and  sixty  thousand  tons  of  freight  were  received 
at  Denver,  and  over  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  tons  were  forwarded.  The  sales  of  mer- 
chandise reached  seventeen  millions  of  dollars. 
The  value  of  Denver's  real  estate  and  personal 
property  is  put  at  twenty  millons  of  dollars.  The 
receipts  at  the  Denver  post-office  for  the  past  year 
were  about  fifty-five  thousand  dollars,  mostly  for 
stamps,  and  there  were  money-orders  issued  to  the 
amount  of  about  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  hotel  arrivals  in  Denver,  for  1879,  was  not 
less  than  seventy-five  thousand.  The  population 
of  the  city,  according  to  the  census  of  1880  (at  the 
present  writing  not  fully  completed),  is  not  far 
from  thirty-four  thousand.  Denver  organized  a 
Board  of  Trade  in  1867.  The  Union  Pacific 
reached  Cheyenne  the  same  fall,  bringing  the  new 
city  within  reach  of  railway  communication. 


GUNNISON'S  BUTT?:. 


ON  TO  GUNNISON.  *2Q 

During  the  summer  of  1870  the  Denver  Pacific 
was  completed  from  Cheyenne  to  Denver,  con- 
necting the  metropolis  of  the  plains  with  the  out- 
side world.  In  August,  1870,  the  Kansas  Pacific 
reached  Denver,  making  two  through  lines  to  the 
East.  Other  railways  followed  in  rapid  succession, 
extending  their  branches  to  the  mining  camps  in 
the  mountains,  and  Denver's  "boom"  began  in 
earnest,  which  has  never  ceased  up  to  the  present 
time,  and  she  began  a  career  of  unexampled  pros- 
perity. 

On  to  the  Gunnison— Over  the  Snowy  Kange. 

After  stopping  in  Denver  for  two  weeks,  wait- 
ing for  the  snow  to  melt  in  the  mountain  passes, 
before  venturing  to  cross  the  Rockies,  we  took  the 
Denver  and  South  Park  train  for  Buena  Vista. 
The  road  for  the  first  twenty  miles  from  Denver 
is  over  a  level  country,  along  the  base  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  near  the  foot-hills,  and  is 
through  a  country  of  green  fields  and  irrigating 
canals,  rich  farms  and  gardens,  interspersed  with 
desert  sands  and  alkalies.  Suddenly  our  train 
rounds  a  curve  and  plunges  into  Platte  Canon,  up 
into  a  very  labyrinth  of  hills,  and  peaks  and  jagged 
rocks  ;  up  a  rapid  stream  (the  South  Platte  River), 
which  has  cut  a  crooked,  winding  channel  out 
through  the  mountains  to  the  plain  below.  At 
the  mouth  of  this  canon  (pronounced  canyan)  an 
English  company,  with  a  large  capital,  have  begun 


**Q  PLATTE  CANON. 

an  immense  ditch,  and  are  blasting  out  a  water- 
course along  the  precipitous,  rocky  sides  of  the 
canon,  purposing  to  take  water  from  the  river 
several  miles  up,  and  carry  it  a  hundred  miles  out 
on  the  plain,  where  they  have  purchased  large 
tracts  of  land,  which  they  wish  to  irrigate.  Let 
our  Eastern  friends  recall  to  their  minds  the  pic- 
ture of  the  road  along  the  Lehigh  River,  from 
White  Haven  south,  near  Mauch  Chunk,  Pa. 
Only  please  imagine  the  stream  to  be  smaller  and 
much  more  crooked ;  the  hills  to  rise  from  five 
hundred  to  a  thousand  feet  higher,  with  less  tim- 
ber upon  them  and  much  more  precipitous,  and 
instead  of  a  few  miles,  makes  it  at  least  forty  miles 
in  length,  and  with  this  picture  in  your  imagina- 
tion, let  us  "try  to  describe  to  you  Platte  Canon. 
Here  is  a  gulf  worn  into  the  rocks  by  the  Platte 
River  in  the  ages  past,  narrowing  up  in  places  to 
forty  or  fifty  feet,  and  so  crooked  and  winding 
that  in  ascending  it  we  traveled  toward  every 
point  of  the  compass,  and  could  see  the  engine 
ahead  of  us  from  one  side  or  the  other  almost 
constantly  from  our  car-windows.  Much  of  the 
way  the  sides  are  so  steep,  and  rugged  and  barren 
of  earth  as  to  offer  no  foothold  for  the  telegraph 
poles,  for  which  have  been  substituted  iron  bars, 
inserted  in  holes  drilled  into  the  rocky  sides  of  the 
canon,  to  which  the  wires  are  attached. 

These  walls  are  mountains,  of  unequal  height, 
varying  from  five  hundred  to  over  a  thousand  feet, 


WINNIE'S  GROTTO-A  SIDE  CANON- Walls  2,ooo  Feet  High 


TR  O  UT-  FISHING \  ^  <,  j 

and  from  the  vertical,  in  places,  to  a  gradual  slope, 
and  whose  cracked,  jagged,  and  fissured  sides  and 
overhanging  rocks  look  down  on  the  traveler  from 
a  dizzy  height  above,  with  seemingly  little  to  hold 
them  in  place,  or  keep  them  from  falling  into  the 
abyss  beneath.  To  Eastern  people  it  is  a  grand 
sight ;  to  Coloradoans  it  is  but  tame  compared  to 
other  and  grander  canons  in  the  State.  The  rail- 
way is  a  narrow  gauge,  and  is  therefore  adapted 
to  the  sharp  curves  and  winding,  narrow  path  it 
has  to  follow. 

We  passed,  on  our  way  up,  many  miners  with 
their  packs  and  blankets,  footing  it  to  the  mines ; 
bound  for  Leadville  and  the  Gunnison. 

At  Deane's  Station,  a  few  miles  up  the  canon, 
our  train  was  detained  by  an  accident  to  a  passen- 
ger train  ahead  of  us,  which  was  on  its  way  down. 
The  engine  had  encountered  a  huge  pine-knot, 
which  had  rolled  down  upon  the  track,  throwing 
the  engine  down  the  banks  and  crushing  the  poor 
fireman  beneath  his  engine  and  slightly  injuring 
the  engineer,  who  saved  himself  by  jumping. 
Strange  to  say,  but  one  passenger  truck  left  the 
track,  and  no  passengers  were  hurt.  While  wait- 
ing at  Deane's  Station  for  the  road  to  get  cleared, 
we  bethought  us  of  our  fish-lines,  and  learning 
that  the  Platte  was  filled  with  trout,  we  cast  our 
hooks  into  the  stream,  and  one  of  our  party 
soon  caught  a  speckled  beauty,  weighing  half  a 
pound.     We  were,  however,  less  fortunate,   and 


o%2  BOGUS  ASSA  VS. 

were  obliged  to  quit  the  pastime  without  being 
successful. 

We  soon  passed  the  scene  of  the  accident, 
where  we  saw  the  wrecked  engine  in  the  creek 
bed,  with  the  poor  fireman,  still  fast  beneath,  his 
hand  still  on  the  lever  t%  the  air-brakes,  where  he 
had  died  bravely  at  his  post. 

It  was  a  day  of  accidents  and  delay ;  a  few 
miles  further  on  we  were  detained  by  a  broken 
bridge,  and  a  delay  of  two  hours  ensued.  Per- 
haps there  may  have  been  "luck  in  leisure,"  for 
while  waiting  here  the  passengers  left  the  train, 
and  gathering  in  groups  were  soon  heard  con- 
versing on  that  all-important  subject — mining. 
This  one  was  superintendent  of  the  "Bald  Eagle" 
mine ;  another  was  exhibiting  a  certificate  of  as- 
says, made  from  some  of  "the  richest  claims"  he 
had  ever  seen.  Another  was  a  capitalist,  no 
doubt  going  to  invest  in  some  of  the  Leadville 
bonanzas, — who  wouldn't,  he  said,  "give  a  cent  for 
an  assay,"  but  must  have  "mill  runs"  to  test  the 
ore.  A  story  was  related,  to  prove  his  point,  of 
the  successful  Chicago  assayer,  who  always  gave 
high  assays,  and  of  course  very  much  pleased  his 
patrons,  who,  to  test  him,  sent  in  a  piece  of  grind- 
stone, and  to  their  surprise  found  \trun  a  hundred 
ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton!  The  mining  superin- 
tendent then  related  the  fact  of  a  Leadville  assayer 
finding  fifty  ounces  to  the  ton  in  an  old  jug  handle; 
and  of  another  Leadville  expert,  who,  when  given 


KENESHOA   DIVIDE..  ~~~ 

a  specimen  of  ore,  asked,  "Shall  I  make  it  run  rich 
in  silver  or  in  gold  ?" 

We  soon  passed  the  bridge  safely,  and  were 
climbing  up  toward  Webster  summit  at  a  grade 
of  two  hundred  and  thirteen  feet  to  the  mile, 
which,  when  it  is  reached,  is  one  of  the  highest 
points  a  railroad  has  yet  climbed  in  the  United 
States,  or  ten  thousand  one  hundred  and  five  feet 
(10,105).  Here  we  wound  up  the  mountain  side 
on  one  side  of  the  canon,  then  crossed  by  a  sharp 
curve  to  the  other  side,  retracing  our  way,  yet 
slowly  creeping  up  the  mountain  to  a  higher  level, 
where  we  could  look  down  from  a  dizzy  height 
into  the  valley  below,  and  plainly  see  the  track  by 
which  we  came  on  the  other  side,  two  or  three 
hundred  feet  below  us:  up,  up  we  rise  by  a  wind- 
ing, crooked  path,  so  narrow  as  to  cause  fear  of 
sliding  off  our  miniature  track,  till  it  fairly  makes 
us  dizzy  to  look  below.  Suddenly  we  leave  the 
canon  and  strike  across  a  sort  of  table-land,  yet 
still  climbing  a  heavy  grade,  and  snow-capped 
mountains  still  rising  high  above  us.  Finally  the 
summit  is  reached,  called  "Keneshoa  Divide,"  and 
we  begin  our  descent  down  toward  the  waters  of 
the  Upper  Arkansas. 

Soon  a  grand  sight  met  our  gaze  as  we  emerged 
from  among  the  mountains  out  into  plain  sight  of 
South  Park.  There  is  a  rolling,  partially  level 
valley,  surrounded  by  snow-clad  mountains  on 
every  side,  and   is   many  miles    in   extent.     We 


3  j  a  MO  UNT  PRINCE  TON. 

crossed  this  park,  thence  down  into  the  valley  of 
the  Arkansas,  and  in  due  time  arrived  in  Buena 
Vista  without  accident. 
t 

Buena  Vista— The  Boad  to  Leadville. 

Buena  Vista  is  a  new  town  of  mushroom  growth, 
situated  near  the  head-waters  of  the  Arkansas 
River,  and  lying  on  both  sides  of  Cottonwood 
Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  same.  Its  altitude  is 
eight  thousand  feet,  and  distance  from  Denver 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles.  This 
town  five  months  ago  had  .only  three  buildings, 
and  it  now  contains  three  or  four  hundred  cheap 
wooden  structures,  some  well-built  hotels,  saloons, 
and  gambling-places  without  number.  It  claims  a 
population  of  one  thousand  five  hundred.  The 
town  is  in  the  midst  of  a  park  country,  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  magnificent  snow-clad  mountains. 
A  little-  south-west  Mount  Princeton  rises  up 
grandly  to  the  height  of  fourteen  thousand  one 
hundred  and  ninety-six  feet,  and  other  peaks  raise 
their  whitened  summits  almost  as  high. 

Tents  greet  the  eye  along  the  streets  in  every 
direction.  Large  canvas-roofed  buildings  and 
tents,  filled  with  merchandise,fand  crammed  full  of 
goods.  Mammoth  tents,  transformed  into  freight- 
houses,  and  full  of  freight  and  supplies  en  route 
to  Leadville  and  the  Gunnison  country,  are  every- 
where seen.  At  the  depot  we  saw  seven  four- 
horse  stage-coaches  loading  with  passengers  for 


TONS  OF  BULLION.  ^r 

Leadville,  besides  other  vehicles  taking  in  passen- 
gers for  Alpine,  Pitkin  and  Gunnison  City.  Eight, 
and  sometimes  nine  persons  are  crammed  inside 
these  Concord  coaches — which  look  as  if  four  per- 
sons would  sufficiently  load  them  inside — while 
four  or  five  persons  are  put  on  top  of  the  box. 
The  fare  to  Leadville  from  Buena  Vista  is  five 
dollars,  distance  thirty-four  miles.  Six  and  eight- 
mule  freight-teams,  hauling  two  canvas-covered 
wagons,  one  hitched  closely  behind  the  other, 
laden  with  freight  of  all  kinds  for  Leadville  ;  jacks 
and  pack-mules,  loaded  with  their  packs  for  the 
Gunnison,  were  constantly  moving  out.  At  the 
freight  depot  tons  upon  tons  of  base  bullion  (sil- 
ver and  lead),  in  bars  (or  pigs)  of  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  pounds  each,  were  closely  piled  upon  the 
platform  for  fifty  feet  in  length,  which  was  fairly 
breaking  down  with  the  great  weight  it  bore. 
These  bear  the  stamp  of  prominent  smelting 
works,  and  are  being  shipped  East,  where  the  sil- 
ver will  be  separated  from  the  lead.  Hundreds 
of  sacks  of  high  grade  carbonate  ore,  of  perhaps 
a  hundred  pounds  each,  lie  here  on  the  platform 
awaiting  transportation  also. 

It  is  astonishing  what  a  vast  number  of  people 
are  still  rushing  to  Leadville ;  yet  we  were  told  by 
reliable  men  from  there  that  there  were  perhaps 
ten  thousand  idle  men  in  that  city,  many  of  th^m 
without  money  or  means  of  subsistence,  depend- 
ing upon  "luck"  for  a  square  meal,  and  on  their 


336 


COTTONWOOD. 


blankets  for  lodging.  We  saw  men  en  route  for 
that  place  from  every  State  from  Maine  to  Cali- 
fornia. We  encountered  many  from  the  Eastern 
States,  as  well  as  from  California  and  Nevada ; 
even  Idaho  Territory  is  represented  in  the  list. 
People  in  the  East  little  know  of  the  tricks  of 
towns  and  railroads,  by  which  they  get  up  a 
"boom"  and  an  excitement,  as  may  suit  their  pur- 
pose. Leadville  has  reaped  a  rich  harvest  from 
one  of  those  "booms,"  yet  we  are  informed  by 
parties  who  should  know,  that  the  merchants  and 
business  men  of  that  place  once  raised  by  sub- 
scription not  less  than  five  thousand  dollars,  which 
was  used  in  advertising  that  camp  far  and  near 
throughout  the  country.  It  seems  almost  incred- 
ible, yet  it  is  no  doubt  true.  But  Leadville  has 
had  its  "boom,"  and  is  doomed.  Rents  have  fallen 
off  very  much,  and  real  estate  cannot  be  sold  at 
its  former  value.  Yet  they  are  still  striking  new 
mines,  and  the  daily  reports  that  some  poor  pros- 
pector has  struck  "it  rich,"  will  still  attract  fools 
enough  to  keep  up  the  "boom"  a  while  lon- 
ger. Buena  Vista  has  some  mines  in  the  sur- 
rounding mountains,  though  none  sufficiently  de- 
veloped to  create  any  excitement  as  yet.  About 
seven  miles  south-west  a  new  mining  camp,  called 
Cottonwood,  is  getting  up  some  excitement,  but 
as^  yet  little  is  known  in  regard  to  it.  Alpine, 
eighteen  miles  south,  is  quite  a  lively  mining  camp, 
and  has  some  valuable  mines.     Buena  Vista  has 


LEA  VING  LEAD  VILLE.  <,-,* 

been  a  lively  town  for  the  past  four  months,  being 
the  terminus  of  the  Denver  and  South  Park  Rail- 
road, and  the  nearest  station  to  Leadville.  But 
the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railway  will  have 
completed  a  road  up  the  Arkansas,  from  Canon 
City,  past  this  place  to  Leadville,  by  July  ist,  when 
this  town  will  have  to  decline.  The  buildings 
here,  as  before  stated,  are  of  the  most  temporary 
sort,  except  a  few  of  them.  The  hotel  where  we 
stopped  was  plastered  with  building  paper,  tacked 
to  the  walls,  and  ceiled  and  whitewashed  overhead 
with  thin  white  muslin,  fastened  in  the  same  man- 
ner. This  was  the  case  with  all  the  rooms,  except 
those  where  the  rough  boards  were  uncovered. 
We  got  good  accommodations,  however,  and  were 
well  fed  for  two  dollars  per  day.  Some  of  the 
hotels,  though,  ask  three  dollars. 

We  started  on  a  bright,  pleasant  morning  from 
Buena  Vista  across  a  rolling  park  or  plain,  toward 
Mount  Princeton,  around  whose  lofty  snow-capped 
summit  hung  some  dark,  stormy-looking  clouds, 
partially  hiding  it  from  view.  Occasionally  its 
glistening  summit  could  be  seen  above  the  clouds, 
producing  a  picture  grand  beyond  description. 

We  had  expected  that  the  mountain  was  but  a 
couple  of  miles  away,  and  after  having  gone  that 
far  without  approaching  any  nearer  to  its  base,  we 
asked  the  driver  how  far  it  was  from  us  still,  and 
learned  that  it  was  six  or  seven  miles.  We  found 
later  that  we  could  place  but  little  dependence 


338 


CHALK-CREEK  CANON. 


upon  our  eyes  to  measure  distance  in  this  light 
atmosphere.  At  about  nine  miles  from  Buena 
Vista  we  passed  the  base  of  Mount  Princeton  and 
came  to  a  sharp  precipice,  where  we  could  look 
down  into  the  canon  of  Chalk  Creek,  into  which 
we  descended  by  a  narrow  and  precipitous  road, 
so  steep  that  we  much  preferred  walking.  To 
our  right  rose  some  white,  rugged,  chalky-looking 
mountains,  a  thousand  feet  above  us,  called  Chalk 
Cliffs.  To  our  left  Chalk  Creek  came  dashing 
and  foaming  down  the  canon,  along  which  a  gang 
of  men  were  at  this  point  constructing  an  irrigat- 
ing ditch  of  great  length,  to  carry  water  down  to 
the  plain  below.  The  Denver  and  South  Park 
Railroad  Company  were  also  grading  up  the 
canon  for  their  extension  up  to  Alpine  and  through 
the  tunnel  to  Pitkin  and  Gunnison  cities. 

Chalk- Creek  Canon  is  narrow,  and  the  moun- 
tains that  rise  up  abruptly  on  either  side  are  a 
white,  decomposed  granite  of  a  chalky  color, 
fissured  and  seamed  in  every  direction,  with  many 
curves  and  holes  worn  into  the  soft  perpendicular 
rocks  by  the  elements,  giving  the  canon  a  wild  and 
picturesque  appearance.  Near  the  mouth  of  the 
canon  there  bursts  out  from  beneath  the  Chalk 
Cliffs  the  Hortense  Hot  Springs,  the  waters  of 
which  are  warm  enough  to  cook  an  egg,  and  are 
said  to  be  possessed  of  valuable  mineral  qualities. 
There  is  also  a  bath-house  near  by.  The  road  up 
the  canon  as  far  as  Alpine  is  quite  good,  though 


SWITZERLAND  OF  AMERICA.  77n 

it  was  terribly  dusty.  Our  fare  from  Buena  Vista 
to  Forest  City,  twenty-three  miles,  was  three  dol- 
lars each,  and  our  conveyance  a  lumber  wagon 
with  a  spring  seat.   . 

We  reached  Alpine  about  noon ;  found  good 
hotel  accommodations  for  seventy-five  cents  per 
meal,  or  two  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  per  day. 
Alpine  is  properly  named;  it  can  properly  be 
called  the  Switzerland  of  America.  >  Surrounded 
by  high  mountains  on  every  side,  which  rise  from 
one  to  two  thousand  feet  above  the  place,  their 
peaks  reaching  far  above  timber  line,  it  is  certainly 
the  most  genuine  Alpine  scenery  in  America. 
The  town  is  building  up  rapidly,  and  contains, 
perhaps,  a  hundred  or  more  houses  and  log  cabins, 
and  one  or  two  good  hotels.  Its  elevation  is  about 
nine  thousand  two  hundred  feet.  There  are  many 
prospect  holes  and  several  good  mines  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Alpine ;  the  Tilden  mine,  of  this  vicinity, 
selling  a  year  ago  to  Eastern  capitalists  for  a  very 
large  sum.  The  road  from  Alpine  to  Forest  City, 
which  is  four  or  five  miles  further  up  the  gulch,  is 
not  good,  but  very  rough.  We  frequently  got 
out  and  walked  up  the  rocky  hills,  but  we  began 
to  experience  some  difficulty  in  breathing  in  this 
light  atmosphere.  An  oppressive  feeling  about 
the  lungs,  and  a  sort  of  giddy  sensation  about  the 
head,  were  some  of  the  symptoms  we  experienced. 
Few  Eastern  people  realize  the  great  change  in 
the  density  of  the  atmosphere  between  the  aver- 


-2  aq  VISIONS  OF  POISON. 

age  elevation  in  Pennsylvania  and  most  of  the 
Eastern  States,  and  the  elevation  here  among  the 
Rockies  of  ten  thousand  feet  and  upwards.  People 
should  get  acclimated  to  such  high  elevations 
gradually,  and  not  rush  into  the  mountains  to  a 
great  elevation  too  suddenly  from  a  lower  atmo- 
sphere, as  the  sudden  change  often  produces  dis- 
ease, and  frequently  pneumonia,  in  connection 
with  the  necessary  exposure  to  a  colder  climate.- 

We  reached  Forest  City  about  four  o'clock,  and 
put  up  at  the  best  hotel  the  place  could  afford, 
which  was,  in  fact,  the  only  one,  at  three  dollars 
per  day.  The  hotel  was  a  rude  log  house,  re- 
cently constructed,  and  but  half  finished.  Outside 
the  cracks  in  the  logs  were  chinked  and  plastered, 
but  inside  only  the  bare  logs,  without  ceiling  or 
plaster  of  any  sort.  When  we  asked  about  a  bed 
and  a  room  by  ourselves,  the  landlord  told  us  the 
best  he  could  do  was  to  give  us  a  bed  and  draw  a 
chalk  mark  around  us  for  a  room.  We  accepted 
the  situation. 

We  were  complaining  of  shortness  of  breath, 
owing  to  the  high  altitude,  and  an  old  doctor, 
boarding  there,  volunteered  us  some  medicine. 
He  handed  us  a  vial,  saying,  "  Take  a  teaspoon- 
ful."  We  took  a  swallow,  and  the  old  doctor, 
watching  the  bottle,  asked  suddenly,  "  What !  you 
didn't  swallow  any  of  that,  did  you  ?"  We  confess 
it  startled  us,  and  visions  of  poison  by  mistake, 
antidotes  and  stomach-pumps  flashed  through  our 


FOREST  CITY.  ^a  l 

mind  like  lightning,  as  we  hurriedly  inquired  what 
we  had  taken,  and  was  answered,  spirits  turpen- 
tine. Of  course  we  felt  relieved.  It  was  diluted 
with  water,  and  therefore  harmless. 

Forest  City  is  properly  named.  It  is  a  town  of 
log  cabins,  tents  and  shanties  in  the  woods,  among 
the  stumps  and  rocks,  and  among  the  trees,  which 
are  just  beginning  to  be  cut  away;  with  bold  and 
precipitous  mountains  on  either  side,  partially 
covered  with  pine  and  spruce.  From  Forest  City 
a  trail  leads  up  one  of  the  gulches  to  the  railroad 
tunnel,  and  thence  across  the  range  to  Pitkin. 
We  had  been  told  that  it  was  only  twelve  miles 
from  Forest  City  to  Pitkin ;  we  now  learned  that 
it  was  full  eighteen,  having  increased  fifty  per 
cent,  since  leaving  Buena  Vista,  and  this  distance 
must  be  walked.  We  were  in  a  dilemma.  We 
had  heavy  satchels  and  a  roll  of  blankets,  and  to 
carry  them  eighteen  miles  seemed  impossible. 
But  hearing  that  a  woman  had  walked  over  the 
range  in  a  snow-storm,  We  took  courage  and  de- 
termined to  make  the  attempt. 

The  greatest  excitement  seemed  to  prevail  in 
all  this  section  in  regard  to  the  great  Gunnison 
country,  and  hundreds  of  miners  and  prospectors, 
on  foot,  and  loaded  down  with  their  packs,  con- 
taining blankets,  tents  and  cooking  utensils,  were 
constantly  passing,  bound  for  Virginia  City,  Pitkin 
and  Gunnison,  over  the  range.  Some  were  driv- 
ing ahead  of  them  jacks  packed  with  supplies. 


342 


OUR  FIRST  EXCITEMENT. 


Some  were  also  returning,  bringing  rather  dis- 
couraging reports  from  the  country.  Some  poor 
fellows  were  tired  out  and  sick,  and  compelled  to 
lay  by  at  our  log  hotel  from  this  cause  Men 
with  their  pantaloons  saturated  with  mud  and 
water  up  to  their  hips,  returning  from  Pitkin,  were 
constantly  met  with,  showing  evidence  of  the  hor- 
rible condition  of  the  road  to  the  summit.  After 
considering  the  matter  carefully,  in  connection 
with  the  condition  of  the  roads,  we  resolved  to 
stop  one  day  in  Forest  City,  and  not  attempt  the 
passage  till  the  following  day,  when  we  could  se- 
cure a  couple  of  saddle-horses,  accustomed  to  the 
trail,  to  help  us  seven  miles  on  our  journey — as 
far  as  the  tunnel. 

During  the  day  we  had  our  first  excitement  in 
prospecting  for  gold.  We  and  our  friend  climbed 
the  steep  mountain  side  near  by,  determined  to 
"strike  it  rich."  We  very  soon  encountered  sev- 
eral prospect  holes,  where  tunnels  were  being 
driven  into  the  hill  in  search  of  mineral,  and  we 
were  encouraged.  Here  was  mineral,  sure.  Ac- 
cidentally picking  up  a  stone  in  our  path,  we  ex- 
amined it,  and  to  our  satisfaction  it  contained 
specks  of  gold.  Our  friend  examined  it  with  his 
magnifier,  and  became  excited.  "Yes,  yes!  that's 
gold,  you  bet !  Where  did  it  come  from  ?  Where 
was  the  lode?"  were  his  eager  inquiries.  We 
searched  diligently,  but  in  vain ;  we  discovered  no 
vein  of  ore  and  no  deposit,  save  a  large  boulder 


DISAPPOINTMENT. 


343 


of  the  same  kind  of  rock,  from  which  our  specimen 
had  evidently  been  broken.  Delighted  with  our 
find,  we  took  our  specimen  to  town,  and  learned 
from  an  old  miner,  to  our  great  chagrin,  that  it 
was  simply  iron  pyrites,  and  worthless. 

There  are  several  mines  and  prospect  holes 
near  Forest  City,  but  much  of  the  ore  is  chiefly 
Galena  and  iron  pyrites,  not  carrying  much  silver. 
However,  there  are  said  to  be  some  rich  mines 
four  or  five  miles  up  Grizzly  Gulch,  which  are 
profitably  worked.  A  miner  took  us  into  his  tun- 
nel seventy  feet,  in  which  the  face  of  his  drift  fairly 
glistened  with  pyrites.  Of  course  he  wished  to 
sell  his  mine,  and  only  asked  the  moderate  sum 
of  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  However,  he  has  a 
good  streak  of  lead  ore,  which  he  claims  assays 
well  in  silver,  and  he  may  yet  strike  a  genuine 
bonanza. 

A  half  mile  above  Forest  City,  Chalk  Creek 
Canon  divides  into  two  gulches  or  ravines,  down 
each  of  which  flows  a  rapid  stream.  A  trail  leads 
up  the  right  hand,  or  eastern  gulch,  over  Alpine 
Pass  to  Virginia  City  and  Hillerton,  two  good 
mining  camps  in  Gunnison  County,  and  near 
which  is  the  celebrated  Gold  Cup  mine,  and  also 
the  Tin  Cup  and  Silver  Cup  districts.  During  the 
snow  blockade,  the  past  winter,  provisions  became 
very  scarce  and  high  in  those  camps,  and  we  were 
informed  by  a  man  who  went  up  there  very  early 
in  the  spring  from  Forest  City,  with  potatoes  and 


■3  44  BEA  TEN  AND  PA  CK~ED  SNo  w. 

flour,  that  he  got  fourteen  and  a  half  cents  per 
pound  for  flour,  and  sixteen  and  a  half  cents  for 
potatoes,  and  as  the  journey  had  to  be  made  with 
snow-shoes  and  a  hand-sled,  very  little  could  be 
sent  in  even  at  those  figures. 

Walking"  Across  the  Continental  Divide. 

Bright  and  early  on  a  Saturday  morning  we 
mounted  our  saddle-horses  at  Forest  City,  for 
which  we  paid  two  dollars  each  for  a  few  hours' 
ride,  and  struck  into  the  trail  that  led  up  the  left- 
hand  gulch  toward  the  summit  where  the  South 
Park  Railroad  Company  is  to  pierce  the  Conti- 
nental Divide.  The  air  was  crisp  and  frosty,  and 
the  sun  was  as  bright  as  ever  a  May  morning 
could  find  it.  We  followed  up  a  very  rapid 
stream,  and  gradually  rose  higher  and  higher,  and 
the  mountains  became  less  lofty  as  we  ascended, 
until  they  were  mere  hills  compared  to  those  we 
had  left  behind.  We  soon  encountered  patches 
of  ice  frozen  during  the  night,  and  everywhere 
drifts  of  snow,  and  a  little  farther  on  the  ground 
became  covered,  and  we  found  ourselves  riding 
over  a  trail  of  beaten  and  packed  snow  of  from 
two  to  five  feet  deep.  Occasionally  our  horses 
would  break  through  with  one  foot  and  recover 
without  falling,  but  finding  no  bottom.  Many 
places  in  the  deep  ravine  it  may  have  been  ten 
feet  deep,  yet  the  road  was  so  hard  that  we  passed 
over  it  in  safety.     A  journey  of  seven  miles  over 


SUMMIT  OF  THE  ROCKIES.  •  -245 

marshes,  fording  streams,  over  rocks  and  fallen 
trees,  and  over  the  frozen  snow,  brought  us  to  the 
tunnel.  When  in  sight  of  it  we  could  see  men 
beyond  climbing  the  trail  that  leads  over  the 
range.  In  the  distance  they  looked  like  little 
dwarfs,  with  their  packs  on  their  backs,  creeping 
slowly  up  to  the  top.  At  the  tunnel  they  have  a 
rude  camp  of  log  cabins,  nearly  buried  up  in  the 
snow,  in  which  the  workmen  live.  The  cabins, 
which  have  been  built  this  spring,  apparently  had 
been  erected  where  seven  or  eight  feet  of  snow 
had  been  removed,  and  there  remained  still  snow 
as  high  as  the  roofs.  The  eastern  end  of  the  tun- 
nel is  in  about  one  hundred  feet,  and  the  western 
end  has  just  fairly  begun.  It  will  be,  when  com- 
pleted, something  over  one  thousand  six  hundred 
feet  in  length.  Dismounting  from  our  horses,  and 
tying  up  the  reins  according  to  order,  we  started 
them  back  alone  on  their  journey.  We  then 
began  to  ascend  the  slippery  trail,  over  snow  ap- 
parently ten. feet  deep  in  places.  But  the  path 
was  so  steep  and  the  air  so  thin,  that  we  could 
only  go  a"  few  steps  without  sitting  down  to  get 
breath.  The  sun  shining  brightly  upon  the  snow, 
troubled  us  somewhat  with  snow-blind.  Many  of 
those  passing  over  we  noticed  wore  glasses  to 
avoid  this.  Slowly  we  worked  our  way  up.  The 
distance  was  not  long  from  the  tunnel,  perhaps 
less  than  half  a  mile,  and  at  nine  o'clock  we  had 
reached  the  summit  of  the  grand  old  Rockies,  over 


../ 


346 


CONTINENTAL  DIVIDE. 


twelve  thousand  feet  above  sea  level.  What  shall 
we  say  to  do  justice  to  our  view  from  the  summit? 
Notwithstanding  our  great  height,  around  and 
above  us  rose  magnificent  mountains  still  a  thou- 
sand feet  higher;  and  beneath  us,  to  the  east  and 
to  the  west,  in  the  distance  we  could  see  deep 
canons,  so  deep  as  to  almost  make  us  giddy  to 
look  into  them.  To  the  east  the  stream  we  came 
up  pours  its  waters  into  the  Arkansas,  and  thence 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  To  the  west  Quartz 
Creek  sends  its  waters  into  the  Gunnison  River, 
thence  into  the  Colorado,  and  finally  into  the 
Pacific. 

We  soon  crossed  the  Continental  Divide.  It  is 
a  narrow,  nearly  level  flat  upon  the  mountain,  per- 
haps twenty  rods  in  width;  and  we  began  to  de- 
scend the  precipitous  mountain-side  as  abruptly 
as  we  had  came  up.  We  soon  reached  the  mouth 
of  the  tunnel  on  the  Pacific  slope,  passing  it  in  the 
gulch  beneath  us,  and  struck  into  the  trail  in  a 
bank  of  snow,  where  we  experienced  the  need  of 
snow-shoes.  Frequently  we  would  sink  into  snow 
to  our  waists,  and  would  recover  to  sink  as  sud- 
denly again,  sometimes  with  one,  and  often  with 
both  limbs.  At  one  point  our  friend  who  accom- 
panied us  took  a  plunge  into  the  chilly  depths  up 
to  his  very  neck,  and  found  much  difficulty  in  ex- 
tricating himself  from  the  painful  situation. 

It  was  a  toilsome  journey  for  a  couple  of  miles, 
but  luckily  the  snow  then  disappeared,  and  we  had 


QUARTZ  CREEK. 


347 


no  further  trouble  from  this  source.  We  were 
soon  caught  in  a  snow-squall,  however,  during 
which  it  snowed  briskly  for  a  few  minutes,  but  was 
of  short  duration,  and  the  sun  was  shining  again 
as  brightly  as  ever.     We  came  to  a  point  after  a 

Lost. 

time  where  we  lost  the  trail  in  the  snow,  and  were 
fairly  lost.  After  hunting  awhile  we  saw  below 
us  some  men  toiling  up  the  hill,  and  going  toward 
them  found  the  trail.  Our  path  lay  from  thence 
down  into  a  deep  canon,  where  the  trail  was  so 
steep  as  to  almost  prevent  a  horse  from  climbing 
it,  yet  which  bore  evidence  of  horses  and  pack 
animals  having  passed  along.  Over  rocks  and 
boulders,  fallen  trees  and  brooks  through  a  forest, 
it  led  us  until  we  struck  a  beautiful  stream  in  the 
valley,  called  Quartz  Creek.  We  overtook  some 
men,  when  part  way  down,  who  were  carrying 
heavy  loads  of  flour  and  tent  cloth  on  their  way 
into  the  valley.  They  had  brought  a  horse  over 
the  range,  and  getting  stuck  ill  the  snow,  were 
compelled  to  stop  and  unload  the  horse,  and  lead 
him  down  the  difficult  trail,  where  they  left  him 
and  returned,  carrying  down  the  pack  themselves. 

Beayer  Bams. 

Following  down  Quartz  Creek,  which  occupies  a 
lovely  little  valley,  in  which  the  flats  are  covered 
with  grass  and  the  hillsides  with  pine  timber,  we 
frequently  saw  evidences  of  beaver  dams  along 


348 


GALENA  LEAD. 


the  stream.  We  found  many  trees  gnawed  down 
by  these  intelligent  creatures,  and  many  remains 
of  dams  constructed  by  them.  We  saw  number- 
less trees,  from  five  to  seven  inches  through,  which 
were  gnawed  partially  down,  and  others  which 
were  clear  down.  Some  of  these  were  some  little 
distance  from  the  stream,  and  were  a  heavy  load 
for  two  or  three  men  to  carry.  How  the  beavers 
succeed  in  getting  them  into  the  stream  at  that 
distance  is  more  than  we  can  imagine. 

Arrival  in  Pitkin. 

We  arrived  at  Miller's  ranch,  where  there  are 
two  or  three  log  cabins,  about  noon,  which  were 
about  the  first  evidences  of  civilization,  and  where 
travelers  are  lodged  and  entertained  when  wishing 
to  stop  awhile  on  their  journey.  There  are  two 
or  three  mines  in  this  vicinity.  The  "Margaret," 
owned  by  Miller  &  Hall,  was  discovered  about  a 
year  ago.  It  seems  Miller  came  along  beneath 
the  ledge  and  camped  for  the  night.  Finding  float 
near  by  next  morning,  he  traced  it  up  the  hillside 
a  few  rods,  where  he  started  a  tunnel,  striking 
a  vein  of  silver  lead  (Galena)  ore,  of  considerable 
value.  The  parties  claim  to  have  been  offered 
twenty  thousand  dollars  for  their./  find.  Quartz 
Creek  is  a  very  rapid  stream,  with  a  succession  of 
falls  and  rapids,  and  we  descended  from  our  high 
elevation  very  fast  to  a  lower  one.  When  down 
in  the  vicinity  of  Pitkin  the  mountains  rise  less 


SURROUNDINGS. 


349 


abruptly,  and  not  so  high,  and  become  heavily 
timbered  with  a  species  of  yellow  pine.  The  snow 
had  all  disappeared,  except  in  a  very  few  places, 
and  the  weather  was  warm  and  delightful.  Little 
brooks  of  clear,  pure  water  came  pouring  down 
from  the  hillsides  occasionally,  from  which  we 
drank  with  delight. 

The  first  evidences  of  our  near  approach  to  Pit- 
kin was  the  sight  of  a  steam  saw-mill,  and  some 
log  huts  in  the  gulch  above  the  town.  The  valley 
here  widens  out  to  one-fourth  of  a  mile  or  more, 
and  Pitkin  is  situated  on  a  level,  grassy  flat,  a  mile 
or  more  in  length.  It  is  a  lovely  situation  for  a 
town,  being  on  a  beautiful  grassy  park,  in  which 
there  is  no  timber,  yet  the  surrounding  hills  are 
thickly  covered  with  pine  and  spruce,  to  their  very 
tops.  Quartz  Creek  passes  one  side  close  to  the 
mountain,  and  an  irrigating  ditch  carries  a  stream 
of  clear  water  the  whole  length  of  the  town,  down 
along  the  side  of  Main  Street.  Main  Street  is 
thickly  studded  with  buildings  in  all  stages  of  erec- 
tion. Tents  and  log  huts  are  everywhere  to  be 
seen,  and  for  a  town  of  only  four  or  five  weeks 
growth,  shows  a  remarkable  energy  in  the  great 
number  of  buildings  which  have  been  erected. 
About  five  weeks  ago  three  or  four  log  cabins 
were  about  the  sum  total  of  buildings  in  the  place. 
Now  corner  lots  sell  for  eicrht  hundred  dollars. 

o 

Its  elevation  is  about  nine  thousand  five  hundred 
feet. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


PITKIN. 


DURING  the  summer  of  1879,  a  party  of 
prospectors  crossed  the  range  and  entered 
the  valley  of  Quartz  Creek,  and  following- 
it  down  to  the  beautiful  park  in  which  the  town  of 
Pitkin  is  built,  went  into  camp,  and  began  to  ac- 
tively prospect  the  surrounding  hills  for  minerals. 
Their  efforts  were  rewarded,  and  rich  "float"  was 
found  on  the  surface  nearly  in  all  directions  for 
miles  around,  indicating  the  presence  of  rich  ore 
bodies  in  the  vicinity.  A  few  locations  were  made 
during  the  season,  and  some  assessment  work 
done,  and  late  in  the  fall  the  town  of  Pitkin  was 
laid  out  and  christened  with  the  name  of  the  popu- 
lar governor  of  the  State. 

A  few  log  cabins  were  built,  and  roofed  with 
poles  and  earth,  and  probably  a  score  of  persons 
wintered  in  the  embryo  city.  The  miners  who 
went  out  in  the  fall  with  their  samples  of  ore  were 
not  idle  during  the  winter,  and  by  early  spring  the 
news  they  had  carried  to  Denver,  Leadville  and 
the  States,  in  regard  to  the  camp,  and  the  tales  of 
flattering  prospects  and  rich  strikes  which  they 
related,  had  created  a  wide-spread  interest  in  the 

350 


THE  BOOM  BEGUN.  ^ZI 

camp,  and  hosts  of  men  were  ready  and  waiting, 
in  Denver  and  Leadville,  and  other  places,  to  rush 
into  the  supposed  El  Dorado  as  soon  as  the 
weather  and  snow  would  permit.  The  winter 
proved  to  be  a  severe  one,  and  the  snow-fall  was 
unusually  deep  and  hung  on  late  in  the  spring ; 
but,  notwithstanding  these  difficulties,  March  found 
many  coming  into  the  section  on  snow-shoes,  over 
six  or  seven  feet  of  snow  in  places,  and  men  were 
found  shoveling  away  the  snow  and  erecting  log 
cabins.  By  the  first  of  April  teams  were  bringing 
in  goods  from  Alamosa,  via  Saguache  and  Chock- 
etope  Pass,  over  a  fearful  road,  wading  through 
two  or  three  feet  of  snow  in  coming  up  Quartz 
Creek,  and  in  the  streets  of  Pitkin  beating  a  track 
through  drifts  in  places  much  deeper.  From  this 
time  on  Pitkin  began  to  "boom."  Neither  cold  or 
bad  roads  or  snow  seemed  to  prevent  people  from 
coming  to  this  new-born  wonder-land  in  the  moun- 
tains. We  arrived  in  the  place  about  the  middle 
of  May.  The  snow  had  disappeared,  except  in 
sheltered  spots  in  the  woods.  The  town  had 
been  growing  but  six  weeks,  yet  it  contained  a 
vast  number  of  log  and  frame  houses,  hotels, 
stores,  saloons  and  tents.  Real  estate  was  high; 
town  lots  were  selling  at  seemingly  fabulous  prices 
for  so  young  a  town.  Lots  suitable  for  business 
purposes,  on  Main  Street,  were  selling  at  from 
four  hundred  to  eight  hundred  dollars,  that  during 
the  winter  could  have  been  bought  for  a  trifle. 


■2c2  HOTEL  ACCOMMODATIONS. 

Speculation   was    rife,  and   a   few  were   making 
money  by  the  "rise." 

One  old  gentleman,  who  came  into  Pitkin  last 
fall,  without  any  means  save  his  team  and  less 
than  one  hundred  dollars  in  cash,  purchased  nine 
or  ten  lots,  paying  from  five  to  ten  dollars  per  lot, 
and  holding  them  until  this  spring,  disposed  of 
them  readily  at  prices  ranging  from  three  hundred 
to  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  thereby  clearing 
about  five  thousand  dollars.  Good  hotels  not 
being  plenty  at  the  time  of  our  arrival,  we  took 
quarters  in  one  of  the  numerous  lodging-houses 
which  appeared  to  be  the  fashionable  sleeping- 
places  of  the  town.  The  house  in  question  was  a 
large  tent,  eighteen  by  fifty  feet ;  the  floor  was  the 
ground,  which  was,  however,  not  level,  and  was 
carpeted  with  three  or  four  inches  of  sawdust.  A 
canvas  partition  divided  the  sleeping  apartment 
from  the  rest  of  the  room  There  was  a  stove 
and  numerous  boxes,  trunks,  etc.,  as  substitutes 
for  chairs,  which  constituted  the  furniture  of  the 
room.  The  bunks  on  which  we  slept  were  made 
of  rough  boards,  arranged  in  a  row  at  the  sides  of 
the  room,  with  two  tiers,  one  above  the  other, 
steamboat  fashion.  The  beds  consisted  of  loose 
hay,  thrown  upon  the  boards,  and  covered  with 
gray  blankets;  and  blankets  and  comfits  were 
used  for  covers.  No  sheets  or  pillows  were  to  be 
seen;  coats  were  universally  used  .for  pillows. 
Price  of  lodging,  fifty  cents. 


"BON- TON"  RESTAURANT.  ,-- 

We  had  walked  over  the  range,  and  were  fa- 
tigued, and  early  in  the  evening  rolled  ourselves 
up  in  the  blankets  of  the  upper  tier,  and  went  to 
sleep.  We  slept  well  after  our  tiresome  walk,  and 
in  the  morning  felt  refreshed.  We  went  to  the 
"Bon  Ton"  restaurant  for  breakfast,  where  we 
found  two  ladies  in  charge.  It  was  a  tent,  sixteen 
by  twenty- four  feet,  with  a  sawdust  floor,  like  our 
bunk-house,  and  the  tables  reclining  at  an  angle 
of  about  fifteen  degrees  from  level:  However, 
everything  bore  the  appearance  of  cleanliness  and 
neatness,  and  we  had  an  excellent  breakfast  of 
beefsteak,  bacon,  fried  eggs,  fried  potatoes,  corn 
bread,  warm  biscuit,  butter  and  coffee,  and,  in  fact, 
everything  essential  to  a  good  appetite,  and  well 
cooked,  all  for  the  sum  of  half  a  dollar.  We  were 
surprised  at  such  good  fare,  in  so  new  a  town,  for 
so  small  a  sum;  but  found  it  to  be  the  ruling 
prices  of  the  place. 

The  following  day  was  Sunday,  yet  the  stores 
and  saloons  were  all  open ;  the  sound  of  the  saw 
and  hammer  were  ringing  all  day  long  on  the  new 
buildings  being  erected,  and  the  reports  from  shots 
of  giant  powder,  while  blasting  in  the  mines,  were 
frequent  all  day;  and  the  din  and  rush  of  travel 
and  freighting  through  the  streets  went  on  as 
usual.  These  new  mining  towns  have  very  little 
regard  for  the  Sabbath. 

Buildings  were  going  up  very  rapidly;  many  of 
them  very  substantial  wooden  frame  structures. 


354 


SIX  WEEKS'   GROWTH. 


Three  saw-mills  were  turning-  out  lumber  very 
fast,  and  were  disposing  of  it  as  fast  as  it  could  be 
manufactured,  and  had  constantly  orders  ahead. 
There  were  within  six  weeks  erected  fifteen  hotels, 
restaurants  and  lodging-houses,  and  some  forty  or 
fifty  business  houses  and  saloons.  By  the  5th  of 
June,  when  a  count  was  taken,  there  were  one 
thousand  and  fifty  people  within  the  city  limits, 
and  undoubtedly  as  many  more  were  camping  and 
prospecting  within  a  few  miles  around  the  city. 
There  were  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  dwellings, 
four  hotels,  eight  restaurants,  twelve  saloons,  fifty 
stores,  business  houses  and  bakeries ;  eighty  va- 
cant and  unfinished  buildings,  three  meat  markets, 
several  real  estate  offices,  one  bank  and  one  jail. 
There  were  in  all,  including  tents  and  log  cabins, 
about  four  hundred  houses.  But  with  all  this 
population,  there  were  but  fifty  ladies  in  the  town, 
and  about  fifty-five  children.  A  fine  school  build- 
ing was  being  erected ;  and  all  this  had  been  ac- 
complished within  the  short  space  of  two  months. 

The  first  sermon  by  a  Christian  minister  was 
delivered  on  June  6th,  and  was  well  attended  by 
an  audience  of  miners,  who  were  well  dressed,  or- 
derly and  attentive ;  and  two  or  three  women  were 
in  attendance.  A  collection  was  taken,  and  the 
sum  of  eighteen  dollars  given  the  clergyman  for 
his  services. 

The  city  of  Pitkin  at  this  time  was  a  fair  sample 
of  a  new  and  excited  mining  camp.     Prospectors 


RULING  PRICES.  ,^ 

were  flocking  in  at  the  rate  of  seventy-five  per 
day.  Probably  five  hundred  locations  of  mining 
claims  had  been  staked  in  the  surrounding  hills, 
within  a  radius  of  five  or  six  miles.  Some  very 
flattering  prospects  had  been  found,  and  very  high 
assays  of  the  rock  had  been  given.  Business  of 
all  kinds  was  lively  and  booming.  Some  very 
large  stocks  of  goods  had  been  brought  in,  and 
several  merchants  were  carrying  stocks  of  from 
three  to  ten  thousand  dollars.  One  firm  was 
doing  a  business  of  about  seven  hundred  dollars 
per  day  in  general  merchandise,  and  a  hardware 
firm  had  sold  over  three  thousand  dollars'  worth 
of  goods  from  their  pile  of  freight  lying  in  front  of 

Prices  of  Liying  in  Pitkin. 

their  unfinished  store,  before  moving  into  it.  Hay 
was  selling  at  five  cents  per  pound,  or  equal  to 
one  hundred  dollars  per  ton ;  flour,  eight  cents 
per  pound;  hams,  eighteen  cents;  eggs,  forty 
cents  per  dozen;  lumber,  forty  dollars  per  thou- 
sand, which  afterward  fell  to  thirty-five  dollars; 
potatoes,  nine  cents  per  pound;  butter,  fifty  cents; 
rice,  twenty  cents ;  dried  apples,  twenty  cents  per 
pound ;  corn-meal,  seven  and  a  half  cents  per 
pound ;  beefsteak,  twenty  cents ;  nails,  fifteen 
cents ;  and  coal  oil,  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  per  gallon.  At  this  time  everything  had  to 
be  freighted  from  Alamosa,  or  from  points  equally 
as  far  away,  and  the  freights  were  two  and  three- 


356 


THE  COLORADO  MINER. 


quarter  cents  per  pound  in  addition  to  the  railway 
charges  of  one  cent  to  one  and  a  quarter  cents 
per  pound.  The  time  on  goods  from  Alamosa 
was  never  less  than  ten  days,  and  frequently  lon- 
ger, and  the  time  from  Denver  two  weeks. 

We  soon  became  acquainted  with  many  miners 
and  prospectors,  and  found  them  to  be  an  intelli- 
gent, social  and  jolly  class.  Though  often  roughly 
dressed,  and  carrying  a  belt  containing  a  knife  and 
large  six-shooter,  yet  possessing  large  hearts  and 
kindly  dispositions  toward  those  who  treated  them 
well.  Although  the  Colorado  miner  boards  him- 
self  in  a  log  hut  or  tent,  and  perhaps  fries  his 
bacon  in  a  dirty  spider,  yet,  as  a  class,  they  live 
well,  and  purchase  the  best  of  food  and  canned 
goods  and  fruits  of  every  kind,  without  stint.  No 
matter  how  expensive  these  articles  may  be,  they 
are  a  part  of  their  daily  living. 

Prospecting. 

It  was  a  surprise  to  us  what  hosts  of  miners 
were  here  who  had  been  former  residents  of 
Leadville,  the  great  carbonate  camp.  Nearly 
every  acquaintance  we  made  was  a  former  Lead- 
villian,  and  Leadville  capital  was  well  represented 
in  the  business  houses,  stores  and  saloons  of 
Pitkin.  Verily  our  prediction  was  coming  true, 
that  Leadville  was  destined  to  be  diminished  by 
thousands  when  the  rush  began  to  the  Gunnison 
country. 


PR OSPECTING.  ~  -  ~ 

We  started  early  on  a  Monday  morning,  a  party 
of  three  of  us,  to  prospect  for  gold.  To  us  it  was 
new  business  ;  we  were,  in  the  language  of  miners, 
"Tender- feet,"  though  one  of  our  party  had  pros- 
pected some  before.  With  high  hopes  and  great 
expectations  of  striking  a  Bonanza,  we  broke  for 
the  Hills  in  a  northerly  direction,  and  after  walk- 
ing up  a  deep  ravine  for  a  couple  of  miles,  com- 
menced climbing  the  mountain.  Up,  up  we 
climbed,  where  the  ground  was  so  steep  in  places 
that  we  caught  hold  of  trees  to  assist  us  in  our 
ascent.  We  soon  began  to  find  "float"  quartz, 
and  occasionally  some  showing  signs  of  ore,  with 
iron  and  copper  stains  on  the  quartz,  when  the 
business  of  prospecting  became  interesting.  We 
continued  our  ascent  until  we  had  reached  an 
elevation  of  perhaps  a  thousand  feet  above  the 
town,  and  could  look  down  into  Pitkin  two  miles 
away. 

At  the  summit  of  this  mountain  we  found  quartz 
croppings,  and  excitedly  we  all  began  to  dig  for 
the  vein,  while  visions  of  untold  wealth  flitted 
through  our  minds  as  we  began  to  pry  out  with 
our  picks  particles  of  ore.  We  worked  with  a 
will.  The  interest  excited  in  digging  for  gold  will 
cause  men  to  work  with  remarkable  energy.  But 
we  soon  found,  however,  that  nothing  short  of 
giant  powder  could  sink  far  into  the  solid  rock 
which  we  encountered.  Therefore,  we  abandoned 
work  for  the  day,  and  proceeded  to  erect  our  dis- 

22 


358 


LOCATING  A  CLAIM. 


covery  stake  and  locate  our  claim  in  due  form, 
and  erected  a  stake,  writing  upon  it  as  follows: 

"  The  Tenderfoot  Lode. 
"Located  May  24th,  1880. 
"We,  the  undersigned,  of  the  town  of  Pitkin, 
county  of  Gunnison,  and  State  of  Colorado,  claim, 
by  right  of  discovery,  one  thousand  five  hundred 
feet  along  the  course  of  said  lode,  vein  or  deposit, 
with  all  its  dips,  angles  and  variations,  as  allowed 
by  law;  together  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
on  each  side  of  the  middle  of  said  vein  at  the  sur- 
face; one   thousand   two    hundred   feet   running 
northerly  from  this  discovery  stake,  and  three  hun- 
dred feet  running  southerly  from  this  stake. 
Signed,  "John  Doe, 

"Richard  Roe, 
"Bill  Plump." 

We  then  continued  our  journey  up  the  moun- 
tain, prospecting  as  we  went,  until  weary  of  going, 
we  retraced  our  steps  to  Pitkin,  where  we  pro- 
duced our  specimens  with  considerable  pride  for 
inspection,  when,  to  our  disgust,  the  miners  all 
pronounced  it  very  poor  ore. 

Although  the  weather  was  very  pleasant  during 
our  stay  in  Pitkin,  yet  the  nights  were  cold,  freez- 
ing ice  frequently  half  an  inch  thick  in  May,  and 
as  late  as  the  last  of  June  there  were  heavy  frosts 
nearly  every  night.     We  found  that  we  needed  to 


SURPL  US  OF  PHYSICIANS.  *cq 

sleep  under  many  blankets  to  be  comfortable. 
Pitkin,  however,  is  two  or  three  weeks  ahead  of 
other  camps  in  Gunnison  County,  as  the  snow  had 
all  disappeared,  and  the  roads  were  in  good  con- 
dition long  before  the  trails  were  open  to  Ruby 
and  Gothic  cities,  except  for  men  on  foot. 

Pitkin  may  be  considered  a  healthy  place  in 
which  to  live.  There  seemed  to  be  a  large  supply 
of  physicians,  but  very  little  for  them  to  do.  There 
had  been  a  few  cases  of  mountain  fever,  rheuma- 
tism and  pneumonia,  but  not  more  than  four  or 
five  deaths  from  all  causes  up  to  the  time  we  left. 

Mail  Facilities. 

Pitkin  has  a  daily  mail  from  Alpine  and  the 
East,  carried  on  horseback,  the  time  being  twenty- 
four  hours  from  Denver.  There  is  also  a  daily 
stage,  carrying  mails  and  passengers  to  and  from 
Gunnison  City,  the  time  being  about  five  or  six 
hours 

Gambling1. 

Miners,  as  a  rule,  are  universal  gamblers. 
There  seems  to  be  something  about  their  wild  life 
that  especially  gives  them  a  disposition  to  gamble. 
The  fact  is,  that  prospecting  is  such  a  game  of 
luck  or  chance,  that  they  come  to  regard  it  almost 
like  a  throw  of  the  dice.  A  prospector  sinks  a 
shaft  or  runs  a  tunnel,  with  very  little  prospect  of 
ore  at  the  surface.  He  "goes  it  blind,"  to  use  a 
miner's  expression,  taking  his  chances  of  striking 


36o 


CHARACTER  OF  PITKIN. 


a  lead.  Hundreds  of  prospect  holes  have  been 
sunk  in  this  manner  in  and  around  Pitkin.  The 
gambling-houses  of  Pitkin,  like  those  of  other 
camps,  are  well  patronized,  and  every  evening 
sees  their  tables  well  occupied  by  men  who  regu- 
larly spend  their  money  in  this  manner.  Many  of 
these  are  constant  losers.  One  Leadville  pros- 
pector, who  bunked  in  our  tent,  lost  sixty  dollars 
in  a  couple  of  nights,  and  although  a  poor  man, 
with  a  family,  he  was  afterward  just  as  ready  to 
try  his  hand  again. 

Wages 

were  good  for  mechanics  and  miners  at  Pitkin,  and 
laborers  were  always  in  demand.  Clerks,  bar- 
keepers and  professional  men,  however,  were  not 
very  much  in  demand,  and  their  pay  not  high. 
Carpenters  were  getting  three  dollars  and  a  half 
to  four  dollars  per  day;  other  laborers,  two  and  a 
half  to  three  dollars  per  day. 

Law  and  Order. 

Pitkin  was  remarkable  as  being  an  orderly 
mining  town  during  our  stay  in  the  vicinity,  there 
being  very  little  theft,  or  violence,  or  resort  to  fire- 
arms to  settle  difficulties,  of  any  sort.  Person  and 
property  was  apparently  as  safe  in  Pitkin  as  in  an 
Eastern  city,  although  everybody  carried  arms, 
and  it  was  no  strange  thing  to  see  belts  containing 
revolvers,  knives  and  cartridges  carried  openly 
and  exposed  to  public  view. 


AN  INCIDENT. 


361 


An  Incident. 

One  evening,  in  the  outskirts  of  Pitkin,  on  the 
road  to  Gunnison  City,  a  horseman  was  seen 
riding  slowly  i-nto  the  town,  olriving  ahead  of  him 
two  burros,  with  heavy  packs  of  mining  tools,  a 
tent  and  camp  utensils,  the  poor  donkeys  being 
so  tired  that  apparently  they  were  ready  to  lie 
down  with  their  loads  at  any  moment,  and  the 
man  was  with  difficulty  urging  them  along.  The 
man  was  a  dark-complexioned,  hard-featured  char- 
acter, and  his  face  strongly  marked  with  small- 
pox. In  the  distance,  half  a  mile  away,  there  was 
seen  a  cloud  of  dust,  and  four  horsemen  were  seen 
approaching,  their  steeds  galloping  at  the  height 
of  their  speed.  They  approached  the  traveler 
with  the  burros,  who  appeared  not  to  observe 
them,  and  separating  as  they  drew  near,  they  sur- 
rounded him  in  an  instant,  and  the  cry  came  clear 
and  distinct,  "  Hold  up  your  hands,"  as  four  trusty 
revolvers  were  leveled  at  his  head.  The  man 
could  do  no  more  than  to  obey,  as  with  a  scared 
look  he  stammered,  "Why,  what's  the  matter?  I'm 
all  right ;  I  bought  these  burros."  But  expostula- 
tion was  useless,  as  a  pair  of  handcuffs  was  quickly 
produced  and  fastened  to  his  wrists,  and  chaining 
him  to  his  saddle,  the  outfit  turned   their  faces 

A  Horrible  Crime. 

toward  Gunnison  City.    The  astonished  by-stand- 
ers,  upon  inquiring  the  cause  of  this  manoeuvre, 


362 


CRIME. 


learned  that  the  man  had  foully  murdered  two 
companions  near  Ruby  City,  who  were  camping 
and  prospecting  with  him,  having  shot  them  both, 
burying  one  and  leaving  the  other  where  he  fell. 
It  was  supposed  the  fiend  had  murdered  them  for 
their  outfit,  burros  and  money,  although  very  little 
money  was  found  on  his  person.  The  party 
camped  at  Ohio  City  for  the  night,  where  the 
guilty  man  was  in  terrible  fear  of  being  lynched, 
which  luckily  he  escaped. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE   MINES   OF   PITKIN. 


THE  mineral  belt  of  Pitkin  is  very  exten- 
sive, and  with  the  town  as  a  centre,  a  circle 
of  which  the  radius  is  ten  miles  will 
scarcely  cover  the  ground  in  which  good  mines  are 
being  daily  discovered.  In  fact,  in  a  northerly 
direction,  the  mineral  belt  can  hardly  be  found 
broken  until  the  Tin  Cup,  Gold  Cup  and  Silver 
Cup  mining  districts  are  reached,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Virginia  City  and  Hillerton. 

In  a  southerly  direction  the  same  is  true,  until 
the  camps  on  the  head-waters  of  Tumichi  River 
are  reached,  where  important  discoveries  have 
been  made.  Both  the  former  and  latter  places 
are  distant  from  twelve  to  sixteen  miles.  West- 
erly the  Ohio  Creek  gold  region  is  distant  but 
about  eight  miles,  the  distance  between  being  well 
filled  with  promising  prospects.  Easterly  to  Mil- 
ler's camp  and  the  tunnel,  eight  miles  distant,  rich 
strikes  have  been  made  all  the  way  along. 

The  formation  is  granite,  porphyry  and  lime- 
stone, and  the  veins  chiefly  contacts,  with  a  dip 
toward  the  west  of  about  forty-five  degrees.  For 
the   most   part,  the  veins   are   parallel,  running 

363 


2>H 


ROCK  FORMATIONS. 


northerly  and  southerly,  a  little  west  of  due 
north. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Pitkin  there  are  places  where 
geologically,  things  are  very  much  mixed,  the  in- 
ternal forces  of  nature  at  some  former  time  having 
shaken  and  tumbled  and  twisted  the  rocks,  placing 
one  formation  above  another,  and  then,  again,  vice 
versa,  in  a  manner  which  will  undoubtedly  puzzle 
the  most  scientific.  In  many  places  the  rocks  still 
show  plainly  the  evidences  of  very  great  heat. 
The  country  bears  every  indication  of  being  ex- 
ceedingly rich  in  precious  metals,  the  " float"  being 
very  rich  which  is  found  on  the  surface,  and  many 
leads  cropping  out  boldly  from  the  hillsides.  It 
would  be  impossible,  at  the  present  writing,  to 
give  accurately  a  fair  estimate  of  the  future  pros- 
pects of  the  camp  or  of  the  prospective  value  and 
richness  of  the  mines.  The  camp  is  new,  being 
still  in  its  infancy,  and  the  mines  are  very  little  de- 
veloped. The  deepest  shafts  or  tunnels  are  less 
than  a  hundred  feet,  and  most  of  them  are  not 
more  than  twenty-five  feet  in  depth;  therefore, 
with  so  small  development,  it  would  be  folly  to 
predict  positively  the  future  of  the  section.  But 
it  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  the  prospects  are  re- 
markably good,  and  that  rich  strikes  are  being 
made  even  at  the  surface,  which  promises  wonder- 
ful things  for  the  future,  when  the  mines  shall  be- 
come more  fully  developed. 

Some  of  the  best  known  mines  in  the  vicinity  of 


MINES  NEAR  PITKIN 


365 


Pitkin  are  the  Fairview,  a  bonanza  in  itself;  the 
Silver  Islet,  Silver  Age,  Silver  King,  Chloride 
King,  Forest  Queen,  Terrible,  Red  Jacket,  Silver 
Link,  Magnolia,  Mocking-Bird,  etc.  There  are 
many  others,  probably,  as  good,  but  not  yet  as 
well  known. 

The  Fairview  has  reached  a  depth  of  nearly  a 
hundred  feet;  has  a  fine,  strong  vein;  frequently 
making  rich  strikes;  running  sometimes  a  thou- 
sand ounces  in  silver.  The  mine  employs  a  large 
force  of  men,  and  development  is  being  pushed 
rapidly. 

The  Silver  Islet  also  gives  rich  assays  in  silver, 
but  has  not  reached  the  depth  of  the  Fairview.  It 
is  in  the  same  vicinity. 

The  Chloride  King  is  a  late  strike,  giving  assays 
near  the  surface  of  one  thousand  three  hundred 
and  eighty  ounces  in  silver,  and  the  owners  have 
already  refused  a  large  sum  for  their  mine. 

The  Terrible  mine  is  opened  by  two  shafts,  each 
about  twenty  feet  in  depth.  They  have  struck  ore 
showing  free  gold  in  abundance,  and  assaying  rich 
in  silver  and  gold.  The  owners  have  been  offered, 
it  is  said,  forty  thousand  dollars  for  their  find. 

The  Red  Jacket  was  sold,  we  were  informed,  for 
forty  thousand  dollars,  and  is  owned  by  ex-Gover- 
nor John  L.  Routt  and  others.  It  is  opened  by  an 
inclined  shaft,  something  over  thirty  feet  deep,  and 
a  tunnel  has  been  run  in  ninety  feet  from  the  foot 
of  the  hill,  to  cut  the  vein  at  the  foot  of  the  shaft. 


366 


NEW  STRIKES. 


A  tramway  is  laid  in  the  tunnel,  and  work  has 
been  begun  systematically  for  successful  mining. 
It  has  a  fine,  strong  vein,  from  four  to  six  feet 
wide,  of  decomposed  quartz,  stained  with  oxide  of 
iron,  which  assays  well  in  silver. 

New  strikes  are  being  made  constantly,  and, 
with  the  rumors  and  excitement  of  a  new  mining 
camp,  it  is  impossible  to  procure  accurate  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  all  the  good  mines  discovered. 
The  assay  offices  are  full  of  rich  specimens  of  ore 
from  perhaps  a  hundred  different  mines,  and  these 
are  being  added  to  daily.  A  strike  was  made 
about  the  middle  of  June,  up  on  the  range  near 
the  railroad  tunnel,  from  which  assays  were  made 
of  twenty  thousand  and  forty  thousand  dollars  per 
ton.  Other  prospects  are  being  discovered  there 
of  great  promise. 

Coal. 

A  two-foot  vein  of  coal  was  discovered  five  or 
six  miles  from  Pitkin.  But  nothing  definite  could 
be  learned  as  to  its  value.  There  is  an  abundance 
of  coal  in  Gunnison  County,  however,  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Gunnison  City. 

The  Hot  Springs. 

About  eight  miles  south  of  Pitkin  there  are 
some  hot  sulphur  and  soda  springs,  which  are  fast 
becoming  a  great  resort  for  invalids,  and  those 
suffering  with  rheumatism  and  other  diseases,  who 
are  able  to  stand  the  journey  thither.     There  is 


OFF  FOR  THE  SPRINGS. 


367 


no  road,  but  a  mere  trail  or  path  through  the 
woods,  which  can  only  be  traveled  on  foot,  or  in 
the  saddle.  Wishing  to  visit  the  springs,  we 
started  one  morning  early  on  horseback,  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  a  bath  in  the  healing  waters. 
Inquiring  the  way  just  before  entering  the  woods, 
we  were  told  that  it  was  a  plain  trail;  that  we 
could  not  miss  it,  etc.  We  started  on  a  gallop  up 
the  hill  on  a  log  road,  well  beaten,  which,  how- 
ever, soon  came  to  an  end,  being  continued  only 
by  a  narrow  trail,  a  mere  path,  between  trees  and 
under  overhanging  branches,  so  narrow  that  the 
trees  brushed  our  limbs,  and  so  low  in  places  be- 
neath leaning  or  partially  fallen  or  lodged  trees, 
that  we  had  to  dodge  our  heads  beneath  them. 
Up  the  mountain  we  climbed,  so  steep  and  precip- 
itous that  our  horse  could  with  difficulty  get  along, 
and  was  compelled  to  stop  often  to  get  breath. 
Meantime  the  trail  had  become  less  plain,  the  path 
more  rocky  and  difficult,  and  the  traces  of  horses* 
hoofs  less  frequent.  We  now  followed  the  tracks 
with  the  greatest  difficulty,  and  finally  found  we 
had  lost  the  trail  entirely.  We  dismounted,  hitched 
the  horse,  and  began  to  search  for  the  trail.  After 
considerable  hunting  we  found  blazed  trees  and 
a  few  horse  tracks  at  some  distance  away,  leading 
on  up  the  mountain.  Unhitching  the  horse,  we 
led  him  and  walked  up  the  steep  hillside,  keeping 
a  sharp  lookout  for  the  path  and  blazed  trees, 
which  we  followed  with  difficulty.     Finally,  after 


-5  68  LOST  IN  THE  WOODS. 

passing  through  two  or  three  miles  of  forest,  we 
reached  the  summit  of  the  mountain. 

Lost  in  the  Woods. 

Here  the  trail  appeared  to  branch,  two  sets  of 
blazes  appearing,  one  path  bearing  to  the  right, 
and  another  to  the  left.  However,  we  did  not  at 
first  observe  this  fact,  but  observing  the  right-hand 
blazes,  followed  them  until  the  path,  after  starting 
down  the  mountain  on  the  other  side,  came  to  a 
sudden  end,  and  no  further  traces  of  horses'  feet 
or  tracks  of  any  sort  could  be  found.  We  hitched 
the  horse,  and  searched  in  vain  for  a  continuation 
of  the  trail.  Leaving  our  horse,  we  retraced  our 
steps,  taking  the  back  track,  but  could  not  follow 
it  far,  and  failed  to  find  where  we  had  come  up  the 
mountain.  We  searched  again,  but  in  vainl  We 
were  lost.  Oh,  the  dizzy,  sickening  feeling  in  our 
temples,  as  we  realized  this  fact.  We  started  for 
the  horse ;  but  where  was  he?  We  could  not  find 
him.  We  sat  down,  and  tried  to  think  calmly 
upon  the  situation,  when  suddenly  it  occurred  to 
us  that  we  had  along  a  pocket  compass.  We  pro- 
duced it  with  joy,  and  order  began  to  take  the 
place  of  chaos  in  our  mind.  We  knew  this :  we 
had  been  traveling  south;  we  had  at  this  point 
turned  toward  the  right — south-west — with  our 
horse.  Taking  the  instrument  in  our  hand,  we 
walked  toward  the  south-west,  and  soon  came  in 
sight  of  our  horse.     With  the  aid  of  our  compass 


A   TERRIBLE  TRAIL. 


369 


we  led  him  back  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain, 
where  we  discovered  a  blazed  trail,  leading  toward 
the  south-east,  which  we  followed  until  that,  too, 
came  suddenly  to  an  end,  and  no  further  marks 
could  be  seen.  We  were  again  compelled  to  take 
the  back  track,  leading  our  horse,  and  in  passing 
a  blazed  tree,  on  which  there  appeared  to  be  writ- 
ing, we  stopped  to  read  the  inscription,  which  was 
as  follows : 

"  San  Juan  Bill's  Trail." 

Some  one  had  added,  in  another  hand : 

"Leading  to  H — ll." 

We  felt  comforted.  San  Juan  Bill's  trail  had 
evidently  fooled  some  other  party  besides  our- 
selves, and  "misery"  truly  "likes  company."  We 
experienced  much  difficulty  in  finding  the  path  by 
which  we  had  come  up  the  mountain.  But  finally 
taking  our  compass  in  our  hand,  we  struck  out 
boldly  toward  the  north,  knowing  it  would  take  us 
to  Pitkin,  paying  little  heed  to  trails  or  blazes,  and 
reached  the  foot  of  the  mountain  and  the  main 
road  in  safety,  resolving  to  make  another  attempt 
to  reach  the  Hot  Springs  at  a  future  time. 

Another  Attempt. 

Two  days  later  we  started  again  for  the  Hot 
Springs.  Failing  to  get  any  one  to  accompany  us, 
we  were  compelled  to  go  alone,  as  before.     We, 


37o  A  SPLENDID  "PARK." 

however,  got  a  gentleman  acquainted  with  the 
route  to  start  us  upon  the  right  trail,  as  we  had 
previously  taken  the  wrong  one  from  the  begin- 
ning, both  roads  entering  the  woods  at  about  the 
same  point.  The  road  proved  to  be  a  plain  and 
well-beaten,  though  very  narrow  trail,  leading  up 
one  mountain,  down  into  a  deep  ravine,  across  a 
small  stream,  up  a  still  higher  mountain,  and  all 
this  time  through  dense  forest  and  undergrowth, 
for  a  stretch  of  perhaps  four  or  five  miles,  when 
we  descended  again  into  a  deep  gulch,  tree- 
less and  covered  with  thick  grass,  which  we  fol- 
lowed down  until  it  opened  out  into  a  large,  beauti- 
ful park.  In  passing  down  the  mountain  toward 
this  park,  we  came  upon  one  of  the  grandest  views 
upon  which  our  eyes  ever  rested.  Grand  forests, 
lovely  valleys,  beautiful  grassy  parks,  as  green  as 
any  meadow;  bald  mountains,  snow-capped  peaks, 
all  at  one  glance.  It  was,  indeed,  a  beautiful  sight. 
We  soon  entered  the  park,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  valleys  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
It  is  a  mile  in  width  by  six  miles  in  length,  the 
surrounding  hills  sloping  gently  back  from  a  small 

Places  of  Resort, 

brook  which  passes  through  it.  It  is  covered  with 
thick,  luxuriant  grass,  as  green  as  an  eastern 
meadow,  the  surface  being  as  smooth  as  a  rolling 
prairie,  on  which  there  is  the  greatest  variety  of 
wild  flowers,  in  such  quantities  as  the  eye  rarely 


AT  THE  SPRINGS.  ^71 

encounters,  which  fairly  perfumed  the  air  with 
their  fragrance.  The  valley  has  evidently  been 
the  bed  of  a  lake  at  some  former  period,  as  the 
marks  of  surging  waters  is  plainly  discernable  in 
places  along  its  sides,  and  the  timber-line  on  the 
surrounding  hills  on  all  sides  only  reaches  down 
to  a  certain  point,  which  has  evidently  been  the 
water-line  in  ages  past,  previous  to  the  time  when 
the  outlet  finally  cut  a  channel  out  through  the 
rocks,  allowing  the  waters  to  escape. 

It  is  a  magnificent  park,  the  rich  grass  growing 
far  up  on  the  surrounding  hillsides,  which  would  af- 
ford pasturage  for  thousands  of  cattle.  Some  en- 
terprising ranchman  has  already  "brought  in  a 
small  herd.  Following  down  the  stream,  which 
was  undoubtedly  the  outlet  of  the  ancient  lake,  we 
soon  came  to  the  Hot  Springs. 

These  springs  burst  out  along  the  mountain 
side  for  the  space  of  perhaps  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  length,  in  which  there  is  more  than  a 
dozen  springs  or  openings,  where  the  water  boils 
up  with  a  sulphurous  smell,  so  hot  as  to  forbid 
touching  it  with  the  hands,  except  for  an  instant. 
The  stones,  and  in  fact  the  whole  earth  in  the  vi- 
cinity, is  crusted  with  a  white  sediment,  deposited 
by  the  waters.  Frequently  there  are  stains,  re- 
sembling that  caused  by  oxide  of  iron.  From  the 
largest  spring  we  fished  out  pebbles  coated  with 
iron  pyrites  and  mineral,  plainly  giving  evidence 
of  how  veins  of  ore  may  be  formed  from  thermal 


*j2  A   WARM  BATH. 

springs  by  the  action  of  water.  The  great  heat 
of  the  water  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  the 
few  springs  mentioned  warm  the  whole  brook  of 
clear,  cold  water,  into  which  they  empty,  sufficiently 
for  bathing  purposes.  Just  below  the  springs  this 
stream  has  been  dammed,  and  the  water  raised  to 
the  depth  W  about  three  feet.  Over  this  pond  a 
log  bath-house  has  been  erected,  about  ten  by  fif- 
teen   feet,   and   into    this  warm,   clear  water  we 

Taking"  a  Warm  Bath. 

plunged,  and  took  one  of  the  most  delightful  baths 
we  ever  experienced.  The  water  is  lukewarm, 
and  is  a  clear,  running  stream,  with  a  smooth, 
gravel  bottom ;  and  it  seemed  such  a  luxury  to 
bathe  within  its  bosom,  that  we  found  it  a  hardship 
to  leave  its  embrace.  In  a  log  cabin,  near  the 
springs,  there  were  several  invalids  having  rheu- 
matism and  other  affections,  who  were  drinking 
the  waters  and  bathing  daily,  claiming  that  they 
were  receiving  great  benefit  thereby.  Competent 
judges  pronounce  the  healing  virtues  of  these 
springs  equal  to  those  of  the  Hot  Springs  of  Ar- 
kansas, although  those  are,  of  course,  much  larger. 

There  are,  as  yet,  no  conveniences  at  the  springs 
in  the  way  of  bathing-houses  or  hotel  accommo- 
dations, but  we  were  told  a  small  hotel  would  be 
erected  the  present  summer. 

We  returned  to  Pitkin  without  incident,  except 
that  in  climbing  a  very  steep  hill,  while  upon  our 


GAME. 


373 


horse,  which  was  a  very  lean  one,  the  saddle  sud- 
denly slipped  backward,  and  ere  we  could  loosen 
our  feet  from  the  stirrups  we  had  taken  a  som- 
ersault backward  to  the  ground.  When  we  had 
recovered  our  equilibrium,  the  horse  was  quietly 
lifting  his  feet  from  within  the  saddle-girths,  leav- 
ing us  and  our  saddle  behind.  Fortunately  we 
escaped  without  injury,  save  a  slight  bruise  on  the 
hand,  and  arrived  in  Pitkin  in  due  time. 

Game,  Fish,  etc. 

A  short  distance  below  the  Hot  Springs  there 
are  some  large  beaver-dams,  which  are  filled  with 
fish.  Large  quantities  of  the  largest,  finest  trout 
are  caught,  frequently  weighing  from  two  to  four 
pounds  each.  The  woods,  too,  are  filled  with 
game,  and  it  is  a  perfect  paradise  for  the  sports- 
man or  nimrod.  Fresh  deer  tracks  are  abundant, 
and  the  woods  are  filled  with  the  evidences  of 
bear.  We,  however,  saw  no  game  on  our  trip, 
except  grouse,  and  a  fox,  which  crossed  the  trail 
ahead  of  us.  We  put  spurs  to  our  horse  and 
gave  chase,  and  would  have  fired  with  our  navy, 
had  he  not  disappeared  suddenly  into  the  timber. 
Bears  are  very  fond  of  the  sweet,  tender  inside 
bark  of  the  pine,  which  lies  next  to  the  wood,  and 
we  saw  many  places  where  they  had  taken  off  the 
bark  with  their  teeth  for  this  purpose.  Indeed, 
there  are  many  places  here  in  the  Rockies  where 
the  woods  are  filled  with  these  evidences  of  bear 

23 


-3  74  FOSSILS. 

and  we  have  frequently  seen  where  such  marks 
were  made  during  the  deep  snows  of  the  past 
winter,  when  the  crust  was  frozen  strong,  more 
than  ten  feet  from  the  ground,  and  upon  so  many 
trees  alike  they  showed  plainly  the  great  depth  of 
the  snow. 

Other  Curiosities. 

• 

Another  place  of  resort,  which  well  pays  for  a 
visit  to  the  spot,  is  to  a  mountain,  about  five  miles 
north  of  Pitkin,  called  Fossil  Ridge.    The  mountain 

Fossil  Ridge. 

was  thus  named  from  the  great  variety  of  fossils 
and  petrified  objects  found  upon  it,  and  is,  indeed, 
an  interesting*  locality  to  visit.  Here  are  found 
petrified  snakes,  fish,  birds,  animals,  and  the  great- 
est variety  of  interesting  objects,  which  are  a  con- 
stant source  of  surprise  and  delight  to  those 
searching  for  and  finding  the  same. 

It  is  probable  that  to  the  sportsman  and  tourist 
Pitkin  and  vicinity  offers  as  great  inducements  for 
pleasure  and  adventure,  and  as  grand  opportu- 
nities for  seeing  beautiful  scenery  and  securing 
game  and  fish,  as  any  point  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. 

Pitkin  very  much  needs  a  smelter  or  reduction 
works,  for  her  ores.  Grading  was  done  for  a 
smelter  in  the  fall  of  1879,  and  it  is  rumored  that 
it  is  upon  its  way  to  Pitkin,  where  it  will  be  at 


WHA  T  IS  NEEDED.  ?  7  5 

once  erected;  but  nothing  definite  can  be  learned 
in  regard  to  it.  As  soon  as  reduction  works  or 
stamp-mills  shall  be  erected,  Pitkin  and  vicinity 
will  undoubtedly  have  a  period  of  remarkable 
prosperity. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

OHIO  CITY — THE  MINES  OF  OHIO  CREEK — GAME  AND  SPECKLED  TROUT — 
BEAVER-DAMS  AND  HOUSES — A  NEW-MADE  GRAVE — AN  EPITAPH — A 
HORRIBLE  TRAGEDY  AT  OHIO  CITY — SHOOTING  AFFRAY — IN  CAMP 
PROSPECTING — PITCHING  OUR  TENT — AROUND  THE  CAMP-FIRE — BAK- 
ING   OUR    OWN    BREAD — THE     "DUTCH     OVEN" — GRAND     SCENERY 

VIEW  OF  THE  UNCOMPALEGRE   RANGE — THE   "  CAMPING-  OUT  GLORY  "  — 

COOL  NIGHTS    IN  THE   MOUNTAINS STRUCK  ORE — DREAMS  OF  SUDDEN 

WEALTH — A  FORTUNATE  "  GRUB-STAKE  " — DESCRIPTION  OF  MINES — 
REPORTED  CARBONATE  STRIKE — FOREST  FIRES — NARROW  ESCAPE  FROM 
BURNING — MINERS'   CABINS   DESTROYED. 

Ohio  City. 

ABOUT  seven  miles  south-west  of  Pitkin 
the  valley  of  Quartz  Creek  again  widens 
out  to  a  beautiful  grassy  park,  just  at  the 
junction  of  Ohio  Creek,  which  flows  into  Quartz 
Creek  from  the  north.  At  this  point  a  town  was 
laid  out  early  in  the  spring,  in  fact,  partly  during 
our  visit,  and  buildings  began  to  spring  up  as  if 
by  magic.  The  new  town  was  called  Ohio  City, 
and  within  a  couple  of  weeks  contained  from  thirty 
to  fifty  log  cabins  and  tents,  and  a  few  good  frame 
buildings,  and  had  a  good  supply  of  stores,  res- 
taurants, saloons,  assay  offices,  real  estate  offices 
and  blacksmith  shops.  Passing  down  Quartz 
Creek  from  Pitkin,  the  timber  upon  either  side  of 
the  gulch  gradually  grows  smaller,  as  we  descend, 
and  finally,  just  before  reaching  Ohio  City,  chiefly 

376 


BOULDER  CANON,  COLORADO. 


H1ST0R  y  OF  PITKIN.  ~  ~g 

disappears.  This  fact  has  been  a  great  impediment 
to  the  rapid  growth  of  the  town,  as  even  logs  for 
cabins  were  scarce,  and  had  to  be  hauled  a  con- 
siderable distance.  There  were  no  saw-mills  near 
until  the  middle  of  June,  and  the  lumber  brought 
in  from  Pitkin  over  a  rough  road  was  very  expen- 
sive, so  that,  until  the  saw-mill  was  erected  within 
a  couple  of  miles,  there  was  very  little  activity  in 
building.  From  that  time  forward  building  com- 
menced  in  real  earnest.  Town  lots  were  selling 
rapidly  at  good  figures.  A  Chicago  capitalist  in- 
vested quite  heavily  in  lots,  and  was  about  erecting 
a  large  hotel  and  several  store  buildings.  Ohio 
City  is  about  a  thousand  feet  lower  than  Pitkin, 
and  is  accessible  by  a  good  road  from  Gunnison 
City  all  the  year.  It  is  beautifully  situated,  there 
being  splendid  water  and  most  excellent  fishing 
and  hunting.  We  saw  here  in  July  some  of  the 
finest  strings  of  speckled  trout  that  it  was  ever 
our  good  fortune  to  see.  On  our  first  visit  to 
Ohio  City  we  walked  from  Pitkin,  and  in  passing 
a  lonely  spot  in  the  valley,  on  our  way  down,  per- 
haps a  mile  below  the  latter  place,  we  passed  what 
was  evidently 

A  New-Made  Grare. 

Stakes  marked  the  spot  for  head  and  foot 
stones,  and  having  heard  of  the  death  of  a  young 
man  in  Pitkin  two  days  previous,  while  far  from 
home  among  strangers,  we  solemnly  approached 
the  spot  to  examine  the  marks  upon  the  stake. 


38o 


TOUCHING  EPITAPH. 


We  stooped  down  and  read  the  following  lines, 
written  in  a  clumsy  hand,  evidently  by  some 
freighter,  who  had  lost  a  dear  friend: 

"  Death  went  prospecting, 
And  he  was  no  fool, 
Here  he  struck  faithful  Pete, 
The  emigrant  mule." 

A  Horrible  Tragedy. 

On  the  26th  of  May  a  horrible  tragedy  was  en- 
acted in  Ohio  City,  which  cost  the  lives  of  two  men. 
It  appears  that  some  trouble  arose  the  night  pre- 
vious between  two  men,  by  the  names  of  Reid  and 
Edwards.  Early  in  the  morning,  Edwards  walked 
over  to  the  tent  where  Reid  was  sleeping,  and 
called  to  a  boy  standing  near  the  tent  to  look  out 
and  go  away.  Reid  hearing  his  antagonist's  voice, 
sprang  up  and  seized  a  revolver.  Edwards  fired 
at  Reid,  but  missed.  A  regular  fusilade  of  shots 
then  commenced,  in  which  both  men  fired  two 
shots  or  more  each,  when  both  fell  dead  on  the 
spot  with  their  heads  near  together,  shot  through 
their  hearts.  Both  were  formerly  from  Leadville, 
and  of  bad  reputation.  This  affray,  however,  was 
the  only  thing  of  the  kind  to  disturb  the  peace  and 
quiet  of  the  vicinity,  and  thereafter  person  and 
property  were  as  safe  in  Ohio  as  in  any  town  in 
the  land. 

In  Camp,  Prospecting. 

The  reported  rich  strike  of  carbonate  ores  on 
Ohio  Creek  created  much  excitement,  and  sent 


CAMPING  OUT. 


38l 


hundreds  of  prospectors  thither.  We,  too,  con- 
cluded to  go  with  the  rush,  and  rolling  up  our 
blankets  and  a  small  tent,  and  packing  them  on 
our  backs,  with  frying-pan,  cooking  utensils,  pro- 
visions, etc.,  we  marched  to  Ohio  City,  a  walk  of 
seven  miles ;  thence  two  miles  up  the  beautiful, 
dashing  stream  of  the  same  name,  when  we  went 
into  camp  for  a  time  with  another  party  of  pros- 
pectors. Our  party  consisted  of  three,  and  our 
neighbors  a  party  of  four.  We  selected  a  beauti- 
ful grassy  knoll,  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek,  be- 
neath the  shadows  of  high  mountains  on  either 
side  of  the  gulch,  and  proceeded  to  pitch  our  tent. 
After  the  tent  was  in  position,  we  took  a  blanket, 
and  going  to  the  banks  of  the  stream,  along  which 
there  was  large  quantities  of  long,  dry  grass,  of 
last  year's  growth,  we  soon  pulled  a  blanket  full, 
which  we  spread  in  the  tent,  on  the  ground,  for 
our  bed.  Spreading  our  blankets  over  this,  we 
had  very  comfortable  quarters  for  the  night.  The 
other  party  were  old  mountaineers,  and  had  no 
tent,  but  in  the  meantime  had  erected  a  brush 
house ;  that  is,  an  inclosure  covered  on  top  and 
at  the  sides  with  pine  boughs,  which,  when  finished, 
made  a  very  comfortable  shelter*  in  which  to  sleep, 
as  in  this  locality  rain  is  not  frequent,  snows  being 
the  chief  storms.  Before  we  had  fairly  finished 
our  work,  it  was  snowing  on  the  mountains  within 
plain  sight,  leaving  them  white  when  the  squall 
was  over,  although  this  was  the  31st  of  May. 


382 


COOKING. 


In  the  evening  we  all  gathered  around  our  large 
camp-fire,  and  stories  .and  songs  were  in  order, 
and  the  evening  passed  away  very  pleasantly. 
Late  in  the  evening  we  crawled  beneath  our  blan- 
kets, and  slept  soundly  till  the  sun  was  shining 
brightly  in  the  morning.  After  breakfast,  which 
consisted  of  fried  bacon,  bread,  of  our  own  baking 
(without  butter),  dried  beef,  coffee  and  sugar 
(without  milk),  and  canned  apple-butter,  we 
climbed  the  mountain  to  prospect.  Perhaps  we 
should  describe  our  manner  of  baking  bread,  for 
the  benefit  of  those  not  accustomed  to  camp  life 
in  the  mountains.  Nearly  every  party  of  pros- 
pectors have  what  they  term  a  "dutch  oven''  which 
is  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  kettle,  with  an  iron 
cover  fitting  tightly  over  it,  and  so  shaped  that  it 
will  hold  live  coals  when  placed  on  top  of  it.  The 
bread  is  mixed  in  a  dish,  with  flour,  water,  salt  and 
baking-powder;  these  being  the  only  ingredients 
used.  The  kettle  is  heated  somewhat,  greased 
inside,  and  the  bread  put  into  it.  The  cover  is 
put  on,  and  it  is  set  on  the  coals  to  bake.  Live 
coals  are  also  heaped  upon  the  cover.  When 
care  is  taken  not  to  burn  it,  very  light,  good  bread 
can  be  baked  in  this  manner,  and  such  is  the  bread 
used  by  nearly  all  prospectors  in  the  mountains. 

After  ascending  the  mountain  above  our  camp 
for  nearly  a  thousand  feet,  the  scenery  that  met 
our  gaze  afar  off  to  the  south-west  was  beautiful 
beyond   description.     It   was    a    scene    to    which 


VAIN  SEARCHING. 


3*3 


neither  pen  or  pencil  could  ever  do  justice.  The 
valley  of  the  Tumichi  River,  and  farther  on  of  the 
Gunnison,  was  spread  out  before  us,  lying  beyond 
the  mound-shaped  foot-hills  of  the  Rockies,  and 
far  beyond  all  the  great  Uncompahgre  Range,  in 
the  San  Juan  region,  covered  with  snow  all  the 
year,  and  the  high,  sharp  peak  of  the  same  name, 
rising  to  a  height  of  over  fourteen  thousand  feet, 
with  the  mountains,  valleys,  table-lands  and 
canons  in  the  intervening  distance,  formed  a  pano- 
rama of  such  a  vast  extent  of  country  that  it  is 
indescribable. 

Our  search  for  mineral  this  day  proved  unsuc- 
cessful, and  we  reached  camp  tired  and  discour- 
aged, but  with  appetites  sharpened  so  that  our 
bread  and  bacon  tasted  like  the  greatest  luxuries 
on  earth.  Who  could  fitly  describe  the  "camping- 
out  glory"  we  experienced  in  this  wonder-land  in 
the  Rockies !  The  beautiful  stream  of  clear,  cold 
water,  which  coursed  past  our  camp,  was  full  of 
speckled  trout.  The  mountains  were  filled  with 
minerals  and  gold,  and  the  grand  pine  forests 
were  full  of  game.  Fresh  deer  tracks  we  encoun- 
tered everywhere;  frequently  some  of  our  friends 
would  encounter  a  drove  of  six  or  seven  deer. 
We  saw  a  fine  one  within  easy  shooting  distance, 
but  had  no  rifle  with  us.  Some  parties  in  a  neigh- 
boring camp  killed  a  cinnamon  bear,  and  one  even- 
ing we  had  grouse  eggs  for  supper,  one  of  our 
party  having  found  six  fresh  eggs.     The  moun- 


^84  ICE  IN  JUNE. 

tains  *  were  filled  with  prospect-holes,  shafts  and 
tunnels,  many  showing  good  indications  of  gold, 
silver  and  copper. 

Ohio  Creek,  at  this  point,  was  also  full  of  beaver- 
dams,  and  there  were  many  very  fresh  evidences 
of  their  recent  workings  not  many  weeks  since. 
The  weather  was  very  pleasant,  in  fact,  delightful ; 
though  the  nights  were  cold,  even  in  June,  and 
frequently  we  found  ice  in  our  water-pail  half  'an 
inch  thick  at  this  late  date.  One  morning  we 
started  up  to  our  mine  very  early,  about  half  past 
five  o'clock.  The  morning  was  very  cool,  and  we 
took  with  us,  as  was  our  custom,  a  pail  of  water, 
to  drink  while  at  work.  We  set  the  pail  down  by 
our  prospect-hole,  and  when  wishing  a  drink 
shortly  after,  we  found  to  our  astonishment  it  had 
frozen  over.     This  was  the  10th  of  June. 

We  prospected  for  a  week  in  our  camp  on  Ohio 
Creek,  and  after  four  days'  faithful  labor,  struck  a 
vein  of  ore  assaying  a  trifle  in  gold  and  silver. 
How  we  toiled  and  delved  into  the  rock  for  two 
days  after  we  struck  ore !  With  willing  hands 
and  great  expectations,  how  hard  we  worked  for 
the  hidden  wealth  which  we  were  confident  would 
be  found  a  little  deeper.  When  Saturday  night 
came  how  proudly  we  marched,  with  tired  and 
weary  feet,  yet  with  light  hearts,  to  Pitkin,  carrying 
with  us  a  little  bag  of  samples  of  the  ores  upon 
which  we  placed  such  high  hopes  and  expecta- 
tions.    Ever  and  anon  the  boys  were  exclaiming, 


"  grub  stakes: 


385 


"I  wouldn't  take  five  thousand  dollars  for  my 
share;"  "She's  worth  a  million;"  "By  George,  I 
believe  we've  struck  it;"  and  like  exclamations; 
and,  indeed,  our  ore  looked  well,  and  created  no 
little  stir  among  the  cluster  of  friends  who  gath- 
ered about  us  when  we  displayed  our  specimens. 
We  were  disappointed  somewhat  when  our  assay 
only  showed  four  ounces  in  silver  and  a  trace  of 
gold,  yet  we  had  faith  in  our  find,  and  continued 
to  sink  our  shaft  on  the  vein.  We  were  encour- 
aged by  the  finds  of  other  prospectors  in  the  vi- 
cinity. 

One  man  sent  out  a  prospector  to  work  for  him 
on  a  "grub  stake,"  which  means  that  the  party  fur- 
nished the  miner  with  provisions,  tools  and  "grub," 
and  was  to  receive  a  half  interest  in  all  the  mines 
located  by  the  prospector.  The  miner  was  gone 
two  days,  when  he  struck  a  lead,  and  the  party 
who  sent  him  was  offered  one  hundred  dollars  for 
his  interest  in  the  find,  and  accepted  it,  making  by 
the  operation  at  least  ninety-five  dollars  clear  in 
two  days.  Another  party,  who  camped  beside  us, 
located  a  claim  near  by,  worked  on  it  a  couple  of 
weeks,  and  disclosed  a  four-foot  vein,  assaying 
twenty-eight  dollars  to  the  ton,  and  occasionally 
showing  free  gold.  He  sold  one-third  of  his  find 
for  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  a  few  days 
after  sold  another  third  for  three  hundred  dollars, 
or  receiving  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  cash 
for  about  three  weeks'  work. 


386 


THE  MINES  OF  OHIO  CREEK. 


The  Mines  of  Ohio  Creek. 


The  formation  along  Ohio  Creek  is  mostly 
granite  and  micaceous  slate  or  schists.  There  are 
many  parallel  veins  running  with  a  very  regular 
strike  toward  the  north-west  and  south-east,  with 
a  dip  toward  the  west  of  from  forty-five  to  sixty 
degrees. 

The  Dakota  lode  was  sold  to  Chicago  parties 
for  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  It  assays  forty-six 
dollars  per  ton  in  free-milling  gold  ore.  The  par- 
ties who  bought  it,  when  approached  in  regard  to 
selling  it,  would  not  offer  to  bond  it  for  less  than 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  Western 
Hemisphere  is  also  upon  Ohio  Creek,  which  is  a 
valuable  lead,  owned  by  the  same  parties  as  the 
Dakota. 

The  Bluebird  lode  is  a  strong  vein  also,  being 
fifty-one  feet  wide,  of  free-milling  gold  ore,  opened 
by  tunnel  about  thirty  feet  long. 

The  Ontario  lode,  which  is  also  on  the  same 
lead,  and  an  extension  of  the  Bluebird,  is  a  valu- 
able mine  of  the  same  character  of  ore.  The  aver- 
age value  of  the  ores  in  these  two  mines  is  said 
to  be  about  fifty  dollars,  while  some  of  it  assays 
much  higher. 

The  Brooklyn  Girl,  in  the  same  vicinity,  is  a 
strong  lead  of  the  same  character  of  ore. 

The  Clara  is  also  a  large,  wide  vein,  of  decom- 
posed quartz,  stained  with  oxide  of  iron,  and  car- 


IMPORTANT  STRIKES. 


3%7 


rying  about  twenty  dollars  per  ton  in  gold,  which 
is  free-milling  ore. 

A  strike  was  made  by  a  young  miner,  about  ten 
miles  up  Ohio  Creek,  which  was  pronounced  car- 
bonates by  old  Leadville  prospectors.  An  assay 
showed  thirteen  ounces  in  silver  near  the  surface. 
The  day  after  the  strike  a  gentleman  named 
Holmes  quietly  took  his  pick  and  shovel,  and 
prospecting  in  the  vicinity  of  the  carbonate  find, 
followed  "float/'  or  "indications,"  for  a  great  dis- 
tance, and  finally  struck  his  pick  in  the  ground 
about  a  mile  distant.  At  a  depth  of  three  feet  he 
was  rewarded  by  great  quantities  of  copper  ore, 
full  of  pyrites  in  large  cubes.  The  vein  proved  to 
be  a  true  fissure,  four  and  a  half  feet  wide,  and 
rich  in  gold,  silver  and  copper. 

It  is  expected  that  a  stamp-mill  will  be  put  into 
the  camp  during  the  autumn.  The  latest  news 
from  the  region  is  that  a  rich  carbonate  strike  has 
been  made  about  eight  miles  from  Ohio  City,  and 
five  miles  due  west  from  Ohio  Creek,  and  that 
genuine  Leadville  carbonates  are  found  in  place, 
and  great  excitement  is  the  result.  However,  we 
place  no  very  great  confidence  in  the  result, 
though  a  few  mines  have  undoubtedly  been  struck 
which  will  carry  carbonates  perhaps  in  paying 
quantities. 

The  latest  strike,  however,  in  the  vicinity,  is 
the  "Little  Per  Cent."  mine,  on  Quartz  Creek, 
between  Ohio  City  and  Pitkin,  not  far  from  the 


338 


"  LITTLE  PER  CENT."  MINE. 


main  road.     It  is  described  by  a  correspondent  as 
follows  : 

"Another  big  strike  was  made  on  the  16th  of 
July,  by  Messrs.  R.  L.  Clark,  S.  M.  Clark,  J.  H. 
Moore,  G.  P.  Moore,  Odis  Clough  and  T.  B.  Smith. 
While  at  work  on  the  Little  Per  Cent.,  about  four 
miles  from  Pitkin,  a  blast  threw  out  a  large  amount 
of  ore,  and  upon  closer  examination  proved  .to  be 
literally  full  of  what  was  supposed  to  be  pyrites  of 
copper  or  iron.  A  specimen  of  the  rock  was 
taken  to  town,  where  it  was  shown  to  the  German 
assayer,  who  at  once  pronounced  it  free  gold.  An 
assay  followed,  showing  it  to  run  up  to  the  enor- 
mous figure  of  sixty-two  thousand  nine  hundred 
and  eighty-five  dollars  and  sixty-five  cents.  An- 
other assay,  made  at  another  assay  office,  brought 
the  amount  up  to  nearly  sixty-four  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  excitement  became  intense  by  this  time, 
and  hundreds  of  men  flocked  and  crowded  to  the 
German  assay  office,  to  look  at  the  specimen  of 
the  ore  on  exhibition.  As  soon  as  the  above  re- 
sult became  known,  an  exodus  of  men  took  place, 
and  by  afternoon  the  hills  in  the  vicinity  were 
nearly  all  staked,  giving  them  the  appearance  of  a 
graveyard.  All  this  time  Messrs.  Clark  and  com- 
pany were  quietly  working  along,  not  yet  knowing 
of  their  good  fortune,  until  men  came  to  see  their 
mine  and  told  the  news.  Mr.  Clark  at  once  came 
to  town,  took  a  surveyor  back  and  surveyed  the 
claim.     The  gold  is  entirely  free,  and  stands  out 


FIRE  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS. 


389 


in  cubes  and  nuggets.  The  rock  is  of  a  dark 
green,  heavy  spar,  with  a  blende  and  a  quartz 
formation.  The  oldest  miners  claim  never  to  have 
seen  any  mineral  in  that  kind  of  rock.  Only  one 
old  English  miner  reports  mines  in  British  Colum- 
bia containing  the  same  rock  also  with  gold  and 
silver.  The  mountains  along  Quartz  and  Ohio 
Creeks  are  full  of  veins  of  this  nature,  but  miners 
have  turned  from  them  as  valueless." — Letter  to 

Denver  News. 

Forest  Fires. 

About  the  middle  of  June  the  forests  became 
very  dry,  and  becoming  ignited  by  the  wind  from 
frequent  camp-fires,  the  flames  swept  over  the 
country  in  every  direction,  causing  terrible  de- 
struction to  the  timber,  and  endangering  the  lives 
of  hundreds  of  prospectors  in  the  vicinity  of  Ohio 

Creek. 

Narrow  Escape  from  Fire. 

A  companion,  describing  to  us  his  narrow  es- 
cape from  the  flames,  said  they  heard  a  distant 
roar  down  the  mountain-side,  but  supposing  it  to 
be  the  wind,  did  not  heed  it,  until  looking  up  a  few 
minutes  later  they  saw  the  flames  leaping  up  the 
mountain  but  a  few  hundred  feet  away,  and  real- 
ized their  danger.  On  came  the  fierce  flames, 
leaping  up  to  the  very  tree  tops,  sometimes  a  hun- 
dred feet  high,  rushing  toward  them  at  the  speed 
of  an  express-train.  The  boys  instantly  leaped 
from  their  shaft,  and  dropping  their  tools,  and 


^nn  OHIO  CREEK \ 

throwing  away  their  coats  and  surplus  clothing, 
ran  for  their  lives.  They  were  nearly  surrounded 
by  fire;  but  while  the  flames  were  sweeping  up 
the  mountain  they  ran  lengthwise  of  the  hills,  to 
endeavor  to  flank  the  fire,  as  it  was  useless  to  at- 
tempt to  keep  ahead  of  it.  After  becoming  nearly 
suffocated  by  smoke,  and  many  times  at  the  point 
of  giving  up  in  despair  with  fatigue,  they  finally 
reached  a  small  stream,  and  wading  into  the  water 
wet  their  faces  with  their  handkerchiefs,  and  thus 
escaped.  Arriving  at  their  camp,  a  sorry  sight 
awaited  them.  Their  cabin  was  in  ruins,  and 
their  overcoats,  blankets,  bedding,  clothing,  in  fact 
everything  except  that  upon  their  backs  was 
burned.  It  was,  indeed,  a  serious  loss.  There 
were  many  losses  of  this  sort  reported  in  the  vi- 
cinity. Many  camps  were  burned,  and  their  occu- 
pants lost  their  all  in  the  way  of  clothing  and 
bedding,  and  frequently  money  contained  in  cloth- 
ing, etc. 

We  spent  much  of  our  time  while  in  the  moun- 
tains along  Ohio  Creek.  It  was  a  beautiful  coun- 
try, a  delightful  climate,  and  a  dry,  healthful  atmo- 
sphere, with  here  and  there  some  of  the  most 
lovely  scenery  in  the  world.  It  was  with  many 
regrets  and  lingering  looks  behind  that  we  finally 
bade  it  a  last  good-bye,  and  turned  our  steps 
toward  Gunnison  City. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

GUNNISON  CITY,  THE  COUNTY-SEAT  OF  GUNNISON  COUNTY — THE  ROAD 
FROM  PITKIN  TO  GUNNISON — SITUATION  AND  POPULATION  OF  GUN- 
NISON— PRICES   OF   REAL  ESTATE,   LUMBER,  ETC. RIVAL   TOWNS THE 

RAILWAY  SOON  EXPECTED — THE    COAL-FIELDS    NORTH — ITS  NATURAL 
ADVANTAGES   AND   PROSPECTIVE  "BOOM." 

Gunnison  City. 

GUNNISON  CITY  is  the  county-seat  of  the 
county  of  that  name,  which  is  probably  the 
largest  in  the  State,  and  embraces  at  least 
ten  thousand  square  miles  of  territory.  It  took 
its  name  from  the  Gunnison  River,  which  was 
named  in  honor  of  Lieutenant  Gunnison,  of  the 
regular  army,  who  lost  his  life  at  the  hands  of 
Indians,  in  that  locality,  many  years  ago.  Grand 
rivers,  towering  mountain  peaks,  and  splendid  val- 
leys covered  with  nutritious  grasses,  are  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  country.  Probably  the  finest 
grazing  land  of  Colorado  is  embraced  within  the 
limits  of  Gunnison  County.  Watered  by  the 
countless  small  streams  which  flow  down  the 
gulches  of  the  western  slope,  and  blessed  with 
more  frequent  rains  than  the  east  side,  the  pas- 
tures of  Gunnison  present  a  striking  contrast  for 
the  better  to  those  east  of  the  range,  except  in  the 
older  districts,  where  there  are  abundant  facilities 
24  391 


<yg2  GRAZING  LANDS. 

for  irrigating.  From  Pitkin  to  Gunnison  City  the 
road  leads  down  Quartz  Creek  to  its  junction  with 
the  Tumichi  River,  where  there  is  a  stage  station, 
called  Parlins;  thence  down  the  Tumichi  River, 
through  a  beautiful  green  and  grass-covered  val- 
ley, to  its  junction  with  the  Gunnison  River,  where 
upon  a  large,  level  plain,  several  miles  wide  by 
many  miles  in  length,  and  surrounded  by  hills  and 
mountains,  in  the  distance  is  Gunnison  City.  The 
distance  from  Pitkin  is  twenty-seven  miles,  and  for 
the  most  part  it  is  over  a  good  road.  The  stage 
fare  is  four  dollars. 

After  leaving  Ohio  City,  seven  miles  below  Pit- 
kin, the  valley  of  Quartz  Creek  widens,  and  the 
mountains  on  either  side  rise  less  high,  and  the 
timber  gradually  disappears  entirely.  The  foot- 
hills on  the  western  slope  present  a  peculiarly 
mound-shaped  appearance,  and  there  are  frequent 
dome-shaped  points  of  rocks  and  fantastically- 
moulded  granite  ledges,  which  present  a  great 
variety  of  beautiful  scenery  along  the  way. 

At  Parlins  ranch,  twelve  miles  from  Gunnison, 
there  is  a  post-office  and  a  few  houses,  and  the 
stage  changes  horses.  The  whole  distance  from 
there  to  Gunnison  the  valley  is  taken  up  and 
fenced  by  ranchmen,  and  upon  the  green  bottom- 
land, along  the  Tumichi,  there  is  to  be  seen  fine 
herds  of  cattle,  and  frequent  houses  occupied  by 
ranchmen  and  their  families. 

Gunnison    City  is    beautifully  situated    in    the 


GUNNISON  CITY. 


393 


splendid  valley  which  here  extends  up  the  Gun- 
nison River  for  many  miles,  and  is  in  plain  sight 
of  the  snowy  peaks  of  the  Elk  Mountains  to  the 
north,  which  have  proved  so  wonderfully  rich  in 
minerals.  The  city  has  a  population  of  nine  hun- 
dred, and  is  growing  very  rapidly.  The  elevation 
is  something  over  seven  thousand  feet.  The  town 
has  large  business  houses,  and  all  branches  of 
business  are  well  represented.  It  has  a  sound 
banking  institution,  and  has  a  new  court-house, 
and  many  very  good  wooden  buildings  are  in 
course  of  erection.  Lumber  has  been  scarce  and 
high,  and  still  commands  fifty  to  sixty  dollars  per 
thousand.  There  are  a  few  very  good  buildings 
of  adobe,  or  sun-dried  brick,  which,  although  dried 
in  the  sun,  appear  to  be  very  solid  and  make  very 
substantial  structures.  Real  estate  and  rents  are 
high;  single  stores  on  the  main  street  rent  as  high 
as  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  per  month, 
and  lots  are  held  at  from  four  hundred  to  one 
thousand  dollars.  Like  Ruby  Camp,  and  other 
towns  in  Colorado,  Gunnison  has  been  cursed 
with  rival  town  companies.  There  is  the  old  town 
of  Gunnison,  and  West  Gunnison,  which  is  half  a 
mile  west.  The  valley  is  so  wide  that  there  is 
room  for  a  city  as  large  as  New  York,  and  the 
consequence  is  that  different  parties  have  located 
the  lands  in  various  directions,  and  have  had  the 
whole  cut  up  into  streets  and  lots,  the  owners  of 
which  and  sellers  of  lots  can  hardly  be  excelled  in 


igA  A  COMING  RAILROAD. 

lying  for  their  own  town  and  against  all  the  others. 
The  Denver  and  South  Park  Railroad  Company 
are  said  to  be  interested  in  West  Gunnison,  and 
will  assist  that  town  by  building  there  their  depot 
and  shops  when  their  road  is  completed.  At 
present  the  old  town  is  ahead,  and  is  much  the 
largest  and  best  business  town  of  the  two,  and 
after  a  struggle  has  succeeded  in  getting  the  new 
court-house.  A  few  years  will  probably  see  both 
towns  connected  and  built  up  as  one  town.  The 
railroad  will  probably  reach  there  within  the  year 
1 88 1,  and  as  it  will  undoubtedly  be  a  point  from 
which  branches  will  be  extended  north,  and  south, 
and  west  to  various  portions  of  the  country,  and 
especially  the  coal-fields  north,  Gunnison  City  is 
destined  to  grow  very  rapidly,  and  will  soon  be- 
come a  populous  town,  or,  perhaps,  a  flourishing 
city.  Its  elevation  is  not  great,  the  winters  not 
very  severe,  and  the  snow-fall  is  light ;  and  should 
the  railroad  company  erect  shops,  as  they  will 
necessarily  have  to  somewhere  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Rockies,  Gunnison  will  surely  get  the  "boom" 
she  is  expecting. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

RUBY  CAMP — THE  TOWN  OF  IRWIN — ALONG  THE  ROAD — BEAUTIFUL 
WILD  FLOWERS — GRAND  SCENERY — CASTLE  ROCKS — THE  COAL  REGION 
— THE  FALLS  OF  BIG  OHIO  CREEK — CLIMBING  INTO  THE  ELK  MOUN- 
TAINS— SNOW  ALONG  THE  ROAD  IN  JULY — THE  TOWN;  ELEVATION, 
POPULATION — RIVAL  TOWNS  AGAIN — BUSINESS — PRICES  OF  LIVING — 
A  LAKE  TEN  THOUSAND  FEET  HIGH — A  BIT  OF  HISTORY — THE  MINES 
OF  RUBY  CAMP — RUBY  SILVER  ORE — EXTRAORDINARY  RICHNESS — THE 
UTE  INDIAN  RESERVATION — RICH  IN  MINERALS — SIXTY  MILES  INTO 
THE  RESERVATION — LIVING  ON  VENISON  AND  GAME — FORTY  POUNDS 
OF  TROUT — INDIANS  NOT  HOSTILE — A  TERRIBLE  ADVENTURE  WITH 
MOUNTAIN  LIONS — EIGHT  DAYS  WITHOUT  FOOD — GOTHIC  CITY — THE 
TOWN  OF  CRESTED  BUTTES. 

Kuby  Camp. 

THE  road  to  Ruby  Camp  leads  up  the  broad 
valley  of  the  Gunnison  River  for  two  or 
three  miles,  then  crosses  the  river  on  a 
toll-bridge,  and  strikes  into  the  beautiful  valley  of 
Big  Ohio  Creek,  which  empties  into  the  Gunnison. 
This  stream,  however,  should  not  be  confounded 
with  the  Ohio  Creek  named  in  a  former  chapter, 
as  the  two  streams  are  more  than  twenty  miles 
apart,  and  are  in  valleys  far  apart.  The  valley  of 
Ohio  Creek  is  wide,  and  covered  with  luxuriant 
green  grass,  and  well  taken  up  with  ranches  and 
dotted  with  log  cabins,  and  quite  frequently  fences 
to  protect  the  meadows  where  the  ranchmen  raise 
hay.  On  either  side  of  the  stream  are  beautifully- 
molded  foot-hills,  sloping  gently  back  to  the  high 

395 


39^ 


BEAUTIFUL   SCENERY. 


mountains  in  the  distance,  on  which  there  is  no 
timber  to  be  seen,  all  being  bare  to  their  tops. 
All  along  there  is  to  be  seen  some  lovely  views  of 
landscape,  mountain  peaks  and  stream.  The  val- 
ley, too,  is  well  stocked  with  herds  of  cattle  and 
horses  far  up  into  the  mountains,  and  frequent 
irrigating  ditches  have  been  constructed  by  the 
ranchmen  living  along  the  stream.  In  the  dis- 
tance can  be  seen  snow-covered  mountains,  and 
on  every  side  of  us  were  the  most  lovely  wild 
flowers  and  roses  in  full  bloom,  in  great  variety. 
When  about  twenty  miles  from  Gunnison,  we 
began  to  climb  into  the  mountains,  which  began  to 
be  covered  with  timber,  and  we  came  into  vi$w  of 
some  grand  mountain  scenery.  To  the  west  of  us 
rose  castle-rocks,  about  five  miles  distant,  in  the 
form  of  some  huge  ancient  castle,  on  the  summit 
of  a  high  range  of  mountains,  with  their  corners, 
and  towers,  and  turrets,  and  dome-shaped  roofs. 
The  resemblance  is  so  striking  that  one  can  almost 
imagine  the  windows  and  doors,  and  evidences  of 
former  habitation.  We  also  passed  a  coal  region, 
lying  a  little  to  the  east  of  us,  which  is  about 
twenty  miles  from  Gunnison  City,  where  a  very 
good  quality  of  bituminous  coal  is  found,  which 
makes  excellent  coke,  there  being  a  five-foot  vein. 
This  coal  basin  is  said  to  be  quite  extensive,  and 
lies  just  south-east  of  Carbon  Mountain,  which  is 
a  very  high  peak,  rising  to  the  height  of  about 
twelve  thousand  feet. 


SNOW  AND  FLOWERS.  ^7 

At  this  point  we  passed  a  team  of  eight  yoke  of 
oxen,  hauling  a  large  portable  boiler  and  engine, 
for  a  saw-mill,  to  be  erected  at  Ruby  Camp.  The 
road  soon  after  became  so  steep  that  we  were 
compelled  to  get  out  of  the  hack  and  walk  for  a 
mile  or  more.  At  this  point  the  head-waters  of 
Big  Ohio  Creek  takes  a  leap  down  the  steep 
mountain  of  about  a  thousand  feet.  It  is  not  a 
vertical  fall,  but  dashes  down  at  an  angle  of  about 
seventy-five  degrees,  foaming  and  milky-white, 
through  a  channel  cut  in  the  rocks,  presenting  a 
beautiful  sight 

Up,  up  we  climbed,  until  we  had  snow-banks 
two  feet  deep  in  places  on  either  side  of  the  road, 
and  frequently  we  picked  wild  flowers  with  one 
hand  while  we  could  reach  the  snow  with  the 
other.  It  was  the  middle  of  July,  yet  there  was 
lots  of  snow  to  be  seen,  and  the  spring  flowers 
were  just  coming  out  into  bloom.  When  the  sum- 
mit of  the  divide  was  reached,  and  we  could  look 
off  toward  Ruby,  we  saw  high,  snow-capped  moun- 
tain-peaks and  rocky,  craggy-looking  summits, 
raising  their  bald  heads  about  us  on  every  side. 

The  road  for  the  last  four  miles  in  the  vicinity 
of  Ruby  is  in  a  horrible  condition,  the  mud  being 
very  deep,  besides  being  rocky,  and  through  for- 
ests, over  roots  and  stumps,  and  we  much  pre- 
ferred walking  to  a  ride  over  this  fearful  road. 
An  eight-hours'  ride  brought  us  to  Irwin,  which  is 
the  metropolis  and  post-office  of  Ruby  Camp,  or 


398 


A  LOFTY  CITY. 


mining-district,  the  distance  having  been  thirty 
miles,  and  we  having  stopped  at  Wilson's  ranch 
for  dinner  about  midway  on  our  journey. 

The  elevation  of  Irwin  (frequently  called  Ruby 
City)  is  about  ten  thousand  five  hundred  feet.  It 
is  situated  in  a  beautiful  valley,  between  high, 
rocky,  bare-looking  peaks,  and  is  surrounded  on 
every  side  by  dense  forests  of  spruce.  The  Irwin 
portion  is  on  a  hill,  sloping  toward  the  south-west, 
and  the  main  street  is  full  of  rocks  and  stumps, 
and  is  very  rough  and  uneven.  The  town  was 
more  of  a  city  of  tents  than  any  place  we  had 
visited  in  Gunnison  County.  Lumber,  until  re- 
cently, had  been  very  scarce  and  high,  and  nearly 
impossible  to  get,  which  causes  had  retarded  build- 
ing very  much.  However,  there  were  two  saw- 
mills in  operation,  and  another  was  upon  the  way, 
and  the  price  of  lumber  had  been  reduced  to 
thirty-five  dollars  per  thousand,  and  there  was  evi- 
dently to  be  great  activity  in  building  very  soon, 
judging  by  the  many  foundations  being  erected. 

Everything  in  the  place  gave  evidence  of  great* 
thrift  and  enterprise,  and  of  newness  and  sudden 
growth.  The  oldest  portion  of  the  town  is  called 
Irwin.  The  new  town,  called  Ruby,  is  about  one: 
fourth  of  a  mile  south,  and  considerable  rivalry 
has  existed  between  the  two  places.  However, 
the  whole  distance  between  the  two  will  soon  be 
built  up,  and  the  whole  is  known  everywhere  by 
the  name  of  Ruby  Camp. 


CENSUS  OF  RUBY  CAMP.  .qq 

All  branches  of  business  seem  to  be  well  repre- 
sented, and  large  stocks  of  merchandise  of  all 
kinds  are  displayed  upon  every  side,  with  the  usual 
large  supply  of  restaurants,  saloons  and  bakeries. 
It  has  also  a  weekly  newspaper,  called  the  Elk 
Mountain  Pilot 

A  hasty  count  of  the  place,  including  both  towns, 
gave  a  population  of  one  thousand  two  hundred, 
and  four  hundred  tents  and  dwelling-houses,  sev- 
enty-five business  houses  and  sixty-five  unfin- 
ished buildings,  making  a  total  of  over  five  hun- 
dred buildings.  Besides  these,  the  surrounding 
hills  and  woods  contain  many  tents  and  cabins,  filled 
with  campers  and  prospectors;  and  undoubtedly 
Ruby  Camp  and  vicinity  has  not  less  than  two 
thousand  people.  There  will  soon  be  three  saw- 
mills, and  grading  is  being  done  by  the  "Good- 
enough"  Mining  Company,  with  a  large  force  of 
men,  for  a  stamp-mill,  part  of  the  machinery  for 
the  same  being  on  the  ground.  Prices  of  staples 
at  retail  were  as  follows :  Flour,  eight  and  a  half 
cents  per  pound ;  hams,  twenty-two  cents ;  bacon, 
twenty-one  cents;  granulated  sugar,  twenty  cents ; 
kerosene  oil,  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  gallon  ; 
hay,  nine  cents  per.  pound. 

The  main  street  of  Irwin  was  crowded  with 
people  in  the  evening,  giving  evidence  of  the  great 
number  of  prospectors  in  the  camp,  and  of  the 
general  thrift  of  the  place.  Following  up  this 
street  toward  the  west,  just  over  a  little  hill,  we 


4QO  FIFTY  FEE  T  OF  SNO  W. 

came  in  sight  of  a  beautiful  lake  of  clear  water, 
covering  two  or  three  acres,  surrounded  by  a 
forest  of  spruce.  Across  this  lake,  from  near  the 
water's  edge,  some  huge,  bare,  chalky-looking 
peaks  rise  abruptly  to  a  great  height,  making  a 
very  pretty  picture  in  the  sunlight  toward  evening. 
Upon  these  mountains  were  many  large  patches, 
or  drifts  of  snow,  and,  in  fact,  on  all  sides  of  the 
town  plenty  of  snow  could  be  seen,  though  it  was 
the  middle  of  July. 

A  Bit  of  History. 

Ruby  Mining  District  was  duly  organized  ac- 
cording to  law,  in  July,  1879,  and  the  town  of  Ir- 
win was  surveyed  and  laid  out  about  the  same 
time.  Some  time  in  the  May  or  June  previous 
two  or  three  of  the  mines  containing  rich  ruby  sil- 
ver ores  were  discovered.  A  post-office,  named 
Irwin,  was  established,  and  a  postmaster  appointed 
in  September,  1879,  and  during  that  year  about 
forty  log  cabins  were  erected,  and  about  fifty  per- 
sons remained  during  the  winter.  The  winter 
was  a  severe  one,  and  nearly  fifty  feet  of  snow  fell 
in  all  during  the  season.  It  was  at  all  times  so 
deep  that  it  entirely  covered  the  log  cabins,  and 
the  mode  of  getting  out  and  in  the  houses  was  up 
and  down  a  stairway,  shoveled  in  the  snow,  from 
a  hole  in  front  of  the  door.  A  story  is  related  of 
parties  who  went  there  very  early  in  the  spring, 
that  after  traveling  on  snow-shoes  the  proper  dis- 


LIFE  AT  R UB  Y  CAMP.  *Q j 

tance,  and  supposing  they  must  be  near  the  place, 
but  observing  no  houses,  they  suddenly  came  upon 
a  man  standing  by  a  hole  in  the  snow,  and  where 
smoke  was  rising  from  a  chimney,  and  inquired  of 
the  stranger  the  way  to  Ruby  Camp.  The  answer 
was,  "Right  here,  sir;  you're  in  it."  The  party, 
amazed,  inquired  where  the  post-office  was. 
"Right  over  in  the  next  hole,  sir;"  and,  sure 
enough,  right  over  in  the  next  hole  in  the  snow, 
completely  covered  with  snow,  was  the  post-office. 
The  survey  of  the  town-site  of  Irwin  was  ap- 
proved at  Washington  during  the  spring  of  1880, 
and  it  is  expected  that  the  patent  for  the  land  will 
soon  be  issued,  making  titles  to  lots  and  property 

good. 

Mines  of  Ruby  Camp. 

Real  estate  and  rents  were  very  high.  Lots, 
twenty-two  feet  front  by  one  hundred  feet  deep> 
were  held  at  four  hundred  dollars,  and  not  to  be 
had  at  that.  Lots  rented  at  from  twenty-five  to 
fifty  dollars  per  month,  without  buildings  upon 
them.  However,  prices  of  living  were  not  extrav- 
agant. We  got  good  meals  at  the  restaurants  for 
fifty  cents,  and  put  up  at  a  lodging-house  similar 
to  the  one  described  in  Pitkin,  at  fifty  cents  per 
night.  The  town  lies  close  to  the  Ute  Indian  res- 
ervation, being  only  about  a  mile  east  of  the  line. 

Ruby  Camp  is  undoubtedly  the  bonanza  mining 
camp  of  Gunnison  County.  The  formation  is 
granite,  limestone  and  porphyry,  and  the  veins  are 


a02  MINES  AT  RUBY  CAMP. 

undoubtedly  true  fissures,  carrying  very  rich  ruby 
silver  ores.  Several  of  the  mines  are  sacking  and 
preparing  to  ship  ore.  The  Forest  Queen  has  a 
two  to  three-feet  vein  of  ruby  silver  ore,  which 
has  run  by  mill-test  over  two  thousand  dollars  per 
ton.  The  mine  was  once  sold,  we  believe,  for 
forty  thousand  dollars,  but  could  not  be  bought 
for  many  times  that  sum  at  present.  It  is  said 
that  the  man  who  located  the  Forest  Queen,  while 
on  his  way  to  Ruby  Camp,  got  stuck  in  the  mud 
with  his  ox-team,  and  agreed  to  locate  a  claim  for 
the  friend  who  assisted  him  through  the  difficulty. 
He  accordingly  located  the  extension  to  his  claim 
for  his  friend,  calling  it  the  Ruby  King.  This 
mine  has  a  vein  about  the  width  of  the  Forest 
Queen,  and  has  had  a  mill-run  of  about  two  thou- 
sand dollars  per  ton.  It  sold  for  sixty  thousand 
dollars. 

The  Bullion  King  has  a  vein  three  feet  wide, 
with  ore  running  as  high  as  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  per  ton,  and  sold  for  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  The  Ruby  Chief  has  a  vein 
thirty  inches  wide,  increasing  with  depth.  The  ore 
runs  over  twelve  hundred  dollars  per  ton,  and  the 
mine  sold  up  among  the  thousands.  The  Lead 
Chief  has  a  fifteen-inch  vein,  carrying  eight  hun- 
dred ounces  of  silver  by  mill-run,  and  sold  for 
sixty  thousand  dollars.  Most  of  these  mines  have 
increased  in  width  and  richness  with  depth.  In 
addition  to  the  above,  there  are  the  Last  Chance, 


NEW  FIELDS.  aQ<> 

R.  E.  Lee,  Little  Minnie,  and  many  other  very 
promising  prospects.  There  have  also  been  rich 
discoveries  made  on  the 

Ute  Indian  Reservation, 

which  lies  west  and  north-west  of  Ruby  Camp.  It 
is  a  country  rich  in  minerals  and  coal  deposits, 
and  filled  with  game  and  fish.  In  another  year 
the  settlement  already  effected  with  the  Indians  for 
their  removal  will  have  become  finally  arranged, 
and  this  vast,  rich  section  will  be  opened  up  for 
settlement  and  exploration.  During  the  present 
season  there  were  not  less  than  fifteen  hundred 
prospectors  upon  the  reservation,  yet  the  ground 
was  hardly  half  prospected,  and  but  a  small  por- 
tion of  its  riches  unearthed.  A  friend  of  ours  left 
Pitkin,  and,  in  company  with  his  partner,  passed 
into  the  reservation  sixty  miles,  and  had  been  out 
five  weeks,  when  we  accidentally  met  him  in  Ruby 
Camp.  They  had  taken  with  them  a  large  stock 
of  provisions,  bacon,  etc.,  when  starting,  but  found 
game  and  fish  so  plenty  that  they  returned  with  a 
large  portion  of  their  pork.  Their  company  of  six 
or  more  persons  killed  venison  so  frequently  that 
it  became  almost  their  daily  living.  They  went  as 
far  as  the  Grand  River,  which  was  swollen  high, 
and  they  did  not  attempt  to  cross,  but  returned. 
The  streams  in  that  vicinity  were  filled  with 
salmon  trout,  and  our  friend  said  that  it  was  no 
uncommon  thing  to  catch  ten  pounds  of  fish,  and 


4Q4  MOUNTAIN  LIONS. 

one  of  their  party  had  caught  forty  pounds  at  one 
time.  He  had  located  five  claims  on  the  reserva- 
tion, showing  ruby  and  brittle  silver,  and  in  the 
short  space  of  five  weeks  had  worked  out  the  as- 
sessments and  had  them  surveyed  and  recorded. 
He  had  been  offered  fifteen  thousand  dollars  for 
his  find,  and  had  sold  a  mere  location  stake,  on 
which  no  work  had  been  done,  for  two  hundred 
dollars  cash.  Their  party  had  seen  but  two  In- 
dians on  their  way  to  the  Grand  River,  and  these 
were  very  friendly. 

A  Terrible  Adventure  with  Mountain  Lions. 

Two  prospectors,  Thomas  French  and  John 
Shafer,  the  latter  from  Cleveland,  Ohio,  started  on 
a  prospecting  tour  into  the  reservation  with  their 
burro,  on  which  was  packed  their  outfit,  tent  and 
provisions.  They  journeyed  westerly  from  Ruby 
Camp,  and  had  reached  a  point  about  twenty-five 
miles  distant,  and  Shafer  was  somewhat  in  ad- 
vance driving  the  burro,  and  French  was  about 
one  hundred  feet  in  the  rear,  when  suddenly, 
while  in  a  deep  ravine  heavily  timbered,  French 
heard  a  scream  from  his  companion,  and  saw  to 
his  horror  six  or  seven  huge  mountain  lions  in  the 
act  of  springing  upon  Shafer,  and  also  the  burro, 
almost  tearing  them  in  pieces  before  his  eyes. 
French  beat  a  hasty  retreat  and  escaped,  but  be- 
fore reaching  Ruby  became  lost,  and  wandered 
about  in   the  wilderness,   starved  and    suffering, 


ASPIRING  CITIES. 


405 


until  he  was  found  by  a  prospector,  eight  days 
afterward,  in  a  delirious  and  dying  condition. 
The  prospector  took  him  to  camp,  where  he  was 
kindly  cared  for,  but  he  remained  delirious  and 
unable  to  give  an  account  of  himself  for  several 
days.  Our  friend  met  the  unfortunate  man  after 
he  had  so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to  give  the 
facts  as  above. 

The  mountain  lion  of  the  Rockies  is  a  large  and 
ferocious  beast,  of  heavier  build  than  the  panther, 
and  resembling  the  African  lion,  except  that  it  has 
no  mane  and  beard  like  the  latter.  They  are  very 
numerous  in  this  section,  and  are  frequently  found 
in  pairs  of  two,  or  more.  They  are  not  considered 
dangerous  when  met  alone  or  singly,  but  seem  to 
be  very  bold  when  found  in  groups. 

Gothic  City 

is  about  fifteen  miles  east  of  Irwin,  or  Ruby  Camp, 
and  is  upon  a  continuation  of  the  same  mineral 
belt  which  extends  eastward.  There  are  some 
very  good  mines  in  the  vicinity  of  Gothic  City,  and 
the  town  is  a  fair  rival  for  Irwin  and  the  other 
camps  in  Gunnison  County.  The  place  has  a 
weekly  newspaper,  called  the  Gothic  Bonanza, 
and  one  or  more  smelters  will  be  erected  during 
the  present  summer. 

Crested  Buttes 

is  a  small  town,  situated  about  eight  miles  east  of 
Irwin,  at  the  junction  of  Slate  River  and  Coal 


406 


SMELTING  CENTRES. 


Creek.  It  has  in  the  vicinity  an  underlying  vein 
of  bituminous  coal,  four  feet  thick,  which  makes 
excellent  coke.  It  is  expected  that  the  fact  of 
having  plenty  of  cheap  fuel  and  coke  will  make  it 
the  great  smelting  point  for  the  ores  of  Ruby 
Camp  and  Gothic,  and,  therefore,  several  smelters 
are  in  course  of  erection  in  the  vicinity,  and  the 
town  shows  great  activity  in  the  way  of  building 
and  lot  speculation,  etc. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

FROM  GUNNISON  CITY  TO  SOUTH  ARKANSAS  STATION — OVER  MARSHALL 
PASS — RECROSSING  THE  ROCKIES — DISTANCE  AND  FARE — FIFTEEN 
HOURS  IN  A  CROWDED  STAGE-COACH — INCIDENTS  OF  THE  JOURNEY — . 
WALKING  ACROSS  THE  SUMMIT — SCENERY — PONCHA  SPRINGS — THE 
TOWN  OF  SOUTH  ARKANSAS — RAPID  GROWTH — ON  TO  DENVER — THE 
TOWN  OF  CLEORA — THE  "DESERTED  VILLAGE" — ENTERING  THE  GRAND 
CANON  OF  THE  ARKANSAS  —  MASSIVE  SCENERY  —  THROUGH  THE 
"ROYAL  GORGE" — GIGANTIC  WALLS,  TWO  THOUSAND  FEET  HIGH — 
CANON  CITY — PUEBLO — SIGHTS  ALONG  THE  WAY — PIKE'S  PEAK — 
MONUMENT   ROCKS — SAFE  ARRIVAL  IN  DENVER. 

Over  Marshall  Pass— Recrossing-  the  Continental  Divide. 

WE  entered  one  of  Barlow  &  Sanderson's 
Concord  coaches,  at  Gunnison  City, 
one  morning  at  five  o'clock,  and  started 
on  our  return  journey  to  Denver.  The  distance 
from  Gunnison  to  South  Arkansas  Station,  on  the 
Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railway,  is  sixty-six 
miles.  It  occupies  about  fifteen  hours  of  continu- 
ous riding,  and  the  fare  is  ten  dollars.  The  stage 
company  change  horses  five  times  in  the  distance, 
using  four  horses  during  the  first  three  changes, 
and  afterward  using  six.  The  road  for  nearly  the 
whole  distance  on  the  western  slope  leads  up  the 
beautiful  valley  of  the  Tumichi  River,  and  for  the 
most  part  is  in  good  condition.  It  is  a  toll-road, 
and  was  built  at  great  labor  and  expense,  and  was 
25  407 


4o8 


D I  SCO  M FOR  TS  OF  S  TA  GING. 


completed  at  a  recent  day.  At  Parlins  Ranch, 
where  the  first  change  is  made,  we  halted  for 
breakfast,  and  had  an  excellent  meal.  The  stage 
was  soon  filled  to  overflowing,  and  we  began  to 
experience  some  of  the  discomforts  of  stage-travel 
in  the  West.  Nine  persons  were  packed  inside 
the  narrow  box,  on  three  seats,  so  close  together 
that  six  persons  could  only  occupy  them  with 
comfort;  besides  there  were  one  or  two  passen- 
gers on  the  box  with  the  driver.  The  dust  was 
fearful;  great  clouds  were  thrown  into  the  coach 
by  the  ponderous  hind  wheels,  which  had  no  way 
of  escape,  as  in  an  open  vehicle,  and  the  conse- 
quence was  that  we  were  all  soon  of  one  peculiar 
brown  color,  very  much  alike.  The  frequent 
change  of  horses  was  a  great  relief,  however,  giv- 
ing an  opportunity  for  the  passengers  to  get  out 
and  exercise  their  cramped  limbs  and  rest.  There 
was  also  an  excellent  dinner  station,  where  a  very 
good  meal  was  furnished  at  seventy-five  cents. 
Excellent  coffee,  rich  cream,  pure  milk  to  drink, 
and  splendid  sweet  butter,  together  with  the  best 
of  home-made  bread,  all  of  home  production  from 
the  owners  ranch,  were  luxuries  which  the  pas- 
sengers all  seemed  to  enjoy.  In  the  afternoon,  the 
valley  of  the  Tumichi,  which  had  been  wide,  began 
to  narrow  up  to  a  canon  between  the  mountains, 
and  at  Wilson's  ranch,  where  six  horses  are  at- 
tached, the  ascent  up  the  Rockies  becomes  very 
steep,  and  the  road  becomes  a  narrow,  winding 


SUMMIT  OF  THE  ROCKIES.  *Cg 

"dug- road"  along  the  side  of  the  precipitous 
mountain,  at  places  carried  hundreds  of  feet  up 
from  the  bottom  of  the  ravine  below.  At  such 
times  it  requires  some  nerve  to  ride  behind  a  span 
of  six,  when  at  some  sharp  turn  in  the  road  the 
leaders  dash  around  out  of  sight  with  a  sharp 
precipice  below,  and  the  stage,  perhaps,  takes  a 
sudden  tilt  toward  the  brink.  However,  the  dri- 
vers carry  a  steady  hand,  and  understand  well 
their  business,  and  accidents  are  rare. 

Our  progress  up  the  mountain  was  necessarily 
slow,  and  retarded  frequently  by  meeting  freight 
trains,  which  were  descending.  The  road  was 
narrow,  and  the  passing  places  were  sometimes 
far  apart.  During  one  of  these  hindrances  we 
walked  ahead,  and  reached  the  summit  of  the 
Rockies  somewhat  ahead  of  the  coach.  It  gave 
us  an  opportunity  for  a  grand  view  of  the  massive 
scenery  which  surrounded  us.  Below  us,  to  the 
west,  the  eye  could  follow  the  valley  of  the  Tum- 
ichi  far  out  through  the  foot-hills  toward  the  plain, 
and  the  winding,  zig-zag  path,  by  which  we  had 
ascended,  could  be  seen  far  below  us  for  two  or 
three  miles.  Heavy  green  forests  reached  far  up 
toward  the  summit  on  the  western  slope.  To  the 
south  of  us  a  gigantic  peak,  upon  which  there  was 
still  patches  of  snow,  seemed  to  rise  to  an  im- 
mense height;  and  just  to  the  north,  and  very 
near  us,  another  massive  peak  of  great  height; 
and  far  to  the  east,  even  beyond  the  great  valley 


4jq  DESCENDING  THE  MOUNTAINS. 

of  the  Arkansas,  were  rugged  peaks  and  irregular 
mountain  ranges,  many  miles  away. 

We  walked  across  the  narrow  divide,  which  is 
less  than  fifty  feet  in  width,  and  started  down  the 
Atlantic  slope,  when  the  stage  overtook  us,  and 
we  were  soon  whirling  down  the  mountains  at  a 
rapid  pace.  The  descent  is  even  more  abrupt 
than  on  the  Pacific  side,  and  the  stage  rattled 
down  the  sharp  pitches  at  a  pace  which  is  anything 
but  quieting  to  the  nerves  of  tired  passengers. 
However,  an  hour's  ride  brought  us  in  sight  of  the 
great  valley  of  the  Arkansas,  and  we  rolled  into 
the  little  town  of  Poncha  Springs.  Here  there  are 
fifty  or  more  newly-constructed  houses,  hotels, 
restaurants  and  business  places,  situated  on  the 
South  Arkansas  River,  a  few  miles  above  its  junc- 
tion with  the  main  branch,  and  which  appear  to 
have  been  mostly  built  within  a  year.  The  cele- 
brated Poncha  Springs  are  within  a  mile,  and  are 
quite  a  resort  for  bathers  and  health-seekers,  as 
the  hot  soda  and  iron  waters  are  considered  very 
beneficial. 

Roads  lead  from  this  place  north  to  the  flourish- 
ing mining  camps  of  Arbourville  and  Maysville, 
where  recent  rich  discoveries  have  been  made,  and 
towns  of  considerable  importance  have  sprung  up 
within  a  year. 

Five  miles  farther  on,  across  the  wide  valley  of 
the  Arkansas,  with  grand,  towering  mountains  in 
the  distance  on  every  side,  we  reach  and  cross  the 


A  CITY  SIX  WEEKS  OLD.  s  j  j 

Arkansas  River,  and  the  new  town  of  South  Ar- 
kansas, which  had  been  laid  out  and  built  within 
the  two  months  previous  to  our  arrival. 

The  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railway  reached 
the  place  in  May,  1880,  making  it  their  terminus 
for  a  time,  previous  to  extending  their  line,  which 
is  now  completed  on  up  to  Leadville.  A  town 
was  laid  out  and  built,  and  being  the  nearest  rail- 
road point  to  Gunnison  City  and  the  mining 
camps  tributary  to  Marshall  Pass,  it  bids  fair  to 
become  a  permanent  town.  It  is  now  the  natural 
supply  point  for  a  large  region  of  country,  both 
west  of  the  range  and  the  new  camps  of  Maysville 
and  Arbourville,  and  others  on  the  east  side.  It 
has  about  seven  hundred  inhabitants,  good  stores, 
hotels,  a  bank,  and  large  forwarding  houses,  and 
is  a  busy  town  for  so  young  a  place.  It  is  aston- 
ishing to  Eastern  people  how  suddenly  these 
Western  towns  spring  up.  Here  is  a  place  which 
within  six  weeks,  where  not  a  building,  or  tent,  or 
aught  but  the  sandy  plain  marked  the  spot,  grew 
to  the  dimensions  of  a  Western  city.  On  a  cer- 
tain day  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railway  ex- 
tended their  line  to  this  point,  making  it  the  ter- 
minus, thus  leaving  the  older  town  of  Cleora  two 
miles  south  "out  in  the  cold."  A  platform  was 
built  for  the  accommodation  of  passengers  and 
freight,  and  by  the  first  trains  large  stocks  of 
goods  and  merchandise  were  brought  in  and 
placed  under  canvas  roofs,  and  large  sales  began 


4!  2  CANON  OF  THE  ARKANSAS. 

from  tents.  A  stampede  from  the  old  town  of 
Cleora  was  the  result ;  stores,  saloons  and  restau- 
rants straightway  removed  to  the  new  prospective 
city.  Speculation  in  lots  and  real  estate  became 
wonderfully  excited,  and  soon  the  old  town  of 
Cleora  became  nearly  deserted. 

South  Arkansas  became  the  head-quarters  for 
Barlow  &  Sanderson's  stage  lines  to  Gunnison, 
and  to  Saguache  and  Lake  City,  in  the  south-west, 
and  also  became  a  regular  meal  station  for  all 
through  trains  on  the  railway  to  and  from  Lead- 
ville.  Thus  the  town  soon  acquired  its  present 
bustle  and  activity. 

It  was  nearly  dark  when  the  stage  deposited  us 
at  the  depot,  dusty  and  weary,  and  we  determined 
to  stay  over  night  and  view 

The  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas 
by  daylight.  Accordingly  we  waited,  with  good 
hotel  accommodations,  until  eight  o'clock  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  when  we  took  the  cars  for  Den- 
ver. The  railway  follows  down  the  Arkansas 
River,  which  is  a  very  rapid  and  swift  stream.  At 
this  season  it  is  swollen  and  very  muddy,  from 
melting  snows  far  up  in  the  mountains.  A  couple 
of  miles  down  from  South  Arkansas  we  pass  the 
town  of  Cleora,  which  truly  reminds  one  of  Oliver 
Goldsmith's  deserted  village : 

"  As  now  the  sounds  of  population  fail, 
No  cheerful  murmurs  fluctuate  in  the  gale ; 
No  busy  steps  the  grass-grown  foot-way  tread, 
But  all  the  bloomy  flush  of  life  is  fled." 


GRAND  CANON  OF  THE  ARKANSAS,  COL. 


IN  THE  GULCH.  mj  * 

Its  former  greatness  has,  indeed,  vanished,  and 
empty  buildings  chiefly  mark  the  spot.  However, 
there  are  a  few  residents  still,  and  the  train  makes 
a  stop  at  the  once  busy  depot. 

Soon  after  leaving  Cleora,  the  wide  valley  sud- 
denly narrows  up  to  a  ravine,  and  we  enter  the 
head  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas.  For 
the  first  few  miles  going  south  the  canon  fre- 
quently widens  out  in  places,  forming  little  narrow 
valleys,  within  the  rugged  mountains,  in  which 
there  are  often  a  few  cabins  and  habitations,  and 
occasionally  a  station,  at  which  the  train  stops. 
Sometimes,  in  these  narrow  valleys,  we  passed  a 
splendid  garden,  or  a  fine  crop  of  corn  or  vege- 
tables, where  the  ranchman  has  irrigated  success- 
fully, and  these  look,  indeed,  like  an  oasis  amid 
the  vast  desert  of  rocks  which  surround  them. 
From  some  of  these  little  valleys  some  grand, 
sharp  peaks  can  be  seen  toward  the  south-west, 
rising  fairly  above  the  clouds.  The  misty  vapor 
can  be  seen  hanging  about  their  heads,  while  just 
above  the  vapor  the  peak  is  seen  like  a  little 
mound  resting  upon  the  cloud.  The  river  below 
us  is  frequently  filled  with  huge  granite  boulders, 
and  the  rocks  above  overhang  the  track,  and  we 
pass  beneath.  The  gulch  keeps  narrowing,  until 
huge  granite  rocks  of  every  conceivable  shape  rise 
up  abruptly  on  either  side,  and  there  is  but  the 
narrow  track  over  which  we  pass  and  the  river 
below,  hardly  averaging  sixty  feet  wide,  a  swift, 


4H 


ROYAL    GORGE. 


surging,  rapid  stream.  The  rocks  on  either  side 
grow  higher  and  higher,  and  more  vertical.  Huge 
granite  pillars,  of  many  fantastic  shapes,  in  which 
the  bright  spots  of  mica  glisten  in  the  sunlight, 
and  frequent  caves  and  grottoes,  of  various  sorts, 
are  the  characteristics  for  nearly  twenty  miles 
down  through  the  canon.  Just  before  reaching 
the  Royal  Gorge  the  train  halts,  and  an  open  ob- 
servation-car is  annexed  to  the  rear  of  the  train, 
in  which  the  passengers  who  choose  are  invited  to 
take  seats.  The  view  from  this  car  we  shall  never 
forget !  The  grade  is  steep,  and  the  cars  run  ap- 
parently at  a  fearful  rate  of  speed.  The  river 
below  is  full  of  rapids,  and  is  a  milky,  raging  tor- 
rent. The  road  is  so  crooked  and  winding  that 
the  engine  is  constantly  in  sight  from  one  side  or 
the  other.  The  sudden  curves,  the  high  rate  of 
speed,  the  torrent  beneath,  the  jar  and  hollow 
rumble  of  the  rushing  train,  the  echoes  shut  in  by 
the  vertical  walls,  all  tend  to  thrill  the  pulse  and 
make  the  nerves  tingle  with  a  sort  of  fear ;  while 
the  massive  walls  of  granite,  which  narrow  up  to 
from  twelve  to  twenty  feet,  and  rise  to  the  height 
of  more  than  two  thousand  feet,  form  a  scene 
which  is  a  constant  wonder  and  delight.  It  was 
nearly  noon,  yet  there  were  shadows  in  the  Royal 
Gorge.  Nature  seemed  here  to  be  set  on  its 
edge.  The  gigantic  walls  of  vertical  strata,  rising 
in  places  to  most  two  thousand  feet,  have  a  gran- 
deur about  them  hard  to  describe.     It  was  our 


OUT  OF  THE  GULCH.  .  j  c 

final  triumph!  We  had  seen  much  of  Colorado, 
but  naught  had  inspired  us  like  this.  Naught  had 
brought  this  feeling  to  our  heart,  often  produced 
by  the  chords  of  a  beautiful  piece  of  music,  or  the 
sweet  strains  of  a  song  which  touches  a  tender 
place  in  the  heart.  So  this  grand  picture  before 
us  seemed  to  thrill  us  with  a  feeling  of  awe  at  na- 
ture's handiwork. 

At  one  point,  where  the  walls  of  the  canon  close 
near  together,  the  railway  has  built  an  iron  bridge, 
suspended  by  wrought-iron  braces  from  wall  to 
wall,  running  the  track  over  the  water  by  this 
means  for  a  hundred  feet  or  more,  instead  of  blast- 
ing out  a  roadway  in  the  vertical  walls.  Soon 
after  passing  this  bridge  the  canon  widens,  and  we 
soon  come  out  into  a  very  large  valley  or  plain, 
and  enter  Canon  City.  In  this  valley  we  found 
corn  and  oats  growing  luxuriantly  wherever  irri- 
gation can  be  practiced. 

Five  hours  from  South  Arkansas  Station  brought 
us  to  Pueblo,  where  the  train  makes  a  long  stop 
for  dinner.  Here  the  main  line  of  the  Denver  and 
Rio  Grande  road,  which  now  reaches  into  New 
Mexico,  connects  with  the  Leadville  branch.  The 
Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Railway  also  runs 
south  and  east  from  Pueblo.  North  of  Pueblo, 
toward  Denver,  for  many  miles  much  of  the  coun- 
try appeared  like  a  barren  desert,  parched  and 
dry,  and  bore  very  poor  comparison  to  the  rich 
valleys  and  green  pastures  of  the  Pacific  Slope. 


416 


COL  ORAD  0   SPRINGS. 


Most  assuredly  the  western  slope  appears  far 
ahead  of  the  eastern  as  a  grazing  country,  except 
in  the  sections  where  water  is  plenty  for  irrigation. 

'For  a  time,  in  the  vicinity  of  Pueblo,  we  had 
nearly  passed  out  of  sight  of  the  Rockies  on  to  the 
rolling  desert  plain.  In  the  vicinity  of  Colorado 
Springs  we  again  approached  the  mountains,  and 
it  seemed  a  most  refreshing  sight,  after  seeing  for 
a  while  naught  but  the  desert  plain. 

Colorado  Springs  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  pret- 
tiest towns  in  the  State.  But  from  what  it  takes 
its  name  is  hard  to  imagine,  as  there  are  no  min- 
eral springs  or  anything  of  the  sort  there.  Pike's 
Peak  rises  up  grandly  in  plain  view  to  the  west, 
and  a  telegraph  line  connects  the  United  States 
Signal  Station,  on  its  summit,  with  Colorado 
Springs.  There  on  its  summit,  in  a  little  stone 
office,  three  officers  of  the  army  are  compelled  to 
stay,  summer  and  winter.  It  is  a  lonely,  tedious 
task,  especially  in  winter,  as  it  is  impossible  to  get 
down  for  months  during  cold  weather,  and  sup- 
plies have  to  be  taken  up  in  the  fall  sufficient  to 
last  the  season. 

Near  Monument  Station,  about  fifty  miles  south 
of  Denver,  there  is  a  very  pretty  sight  from  the 
cars  a  short  distance  to  the  east  of  the  track.  A 
series  of  rocks  rise  abruptly  from  some  low  hills, 
which  are  as  regularly  moulded  as  if  by  a  sculp- 
tor's chisel,  and  resemble  the  pillars  and  walls  of 
some  ancient  temple,  which  has  been  chiseled  by 


AT  DENVER.  4-17 

an  artist  to  perfection.  They  are,  indeed,  a  very 
beautiful  sight,  situated  as  they  are  among  a 
grove  of  pines  which  surrounds  them.  Near  them, 
just  north,  is  a  pretty  little  lake,  on  which  we  saw 
boats,  and  ladies  rowing.  All  is  in  plain  view 
from  the  train. 

The  last  fifty  or  sixty  miles  toward  Denver  the 
country  became  richer,  the  grass  more  green,  and 
a  great  improvement  was  noticed  over  the  sands 
of  Pueblo  and  vicinity.  Large  irrigating  ditches 
bring  down  a  good  supply  of  water,  and  the  corn 
and  oat  crops  were  looking  very  fine.  We  arrived 
in  Denver  without  accident  about  dark,  having 
been  twelve  hours  out  from  South  Arkansas 
Station. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

LEADVILLE,  THE  CARBONATE  CAMP — EARLY  HISTORY — CALIFORNIA 
GULCH  IN  i860 — FORMER  RICH  YIELD  FROM  THE  PLACER  MINES — 
THE  "HEAVY  SAND"  THAT  TROUBLED  THE  SLUICE-BOXES — FOUND  TO 
BE  CARBONATE  ORE— THE  FIRST  MINES  LOCATED — THE  FIRST  SAMPLING 
WORKS — THE  FIRST  SMELTER— A  STORE  IN  JUNE,  1 877:  BY  WHOM 
ESTABLISHED — THE  FIRST  BUILDINGS  IN  LEADVILLE — MARVELOUS 
GROWTH  IN  I878 — POOR  MEN  RAISED  TO  SUDDEN  WEALTH — HIGH 
PRICES  OF  REAL  ESTATE — RENTS — BUSINESS — SMELTERS — ONE  MILLION 
DOLLARS  PER  MONTH — A  FEW  OF  THE  MINES — VALUE  OF  THE  ORES — 
THE  LITTLE  BONANZA  :  TRIANGLE — A  FEW  OF  THE  MEN  WHO  STRUCK 
IT  RICH — FIVE  MILLIONS  IN  PROFITS  FROM  MINE  SPECULATIONS- 
SOME  OF  THE  BIG  BONANZAS — THE  R.  E.  LEE  MINE — THE  CHRYSOLITE — 

THE  MORNING  STAR THE    LITTLE   CHIEF — THE   LITTLE   PITTSBURG 

COST  OF  LIVING — THE  GREAT  STRIKE   FOR  WAGES — ROUTES  BY  WHICH 
TO  REACH   LEADVILLE,    ETC. 

Leadville,  the  Carbonate  Camp— California  Gulch  in  1860. 

SOME  time  during  the  summer  of  i860,  a 
few  hardy  prospectors  entered  the  valley 
now  known  as  California  Gulch.  Through 
this  valley  flowed  a  small  stream,  along  whose 
banks  skirted  a  heavy  growth  of  timber.  Panning 
out  some  of  the  gravel,  it  was  found  to  be  rich  in 
gold.  The  reports  that  went  out  from  this  strike 
soon  made  the  gulch  alive  with  men,  and  within  a 
few  months,  it  is  said,  five  thousand  men  had 
gathered  along  this  little  stream  up  among  the 
mountains.     A  little  town  of  cabins  and  log  huts 

sprung  up,  and  was  christened  by  the  name  of 

418 


VALUABLE   YLELDS.  ^jg 

Oro.  The  gulch  proved  to  be  immensely  rich, 
and  some  claims  soon  yielded  as  much  as  one 
thousand  dollars  per  day,  and  it  is  stated  that  one 
firm  took  out  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  two 
months.  The  "  rocker"  and  sluice-box  were  put 
in  operation  from  one  end  of  the  gulch  to  the 
other  for  a  distance  of  six  miles,  and  some  claims 
yielded  an  ounce  or  two  of  gold  per  day  to  the 
man,  and  one  single  pan  of  dirt  is  said  to  have 
yielded  five  ounces  of  the  precious  metal.  The 
gold  dust,  as  it  came  from  the  sluices,  passed  at  a 
valuation  of  about  eighteen  dollars  per  ounce,  and 
in  every  place  of  business  there  was  a  little  pair 
of  scales  for  weighing  it,  and  gold  dust  was  the 
medium  of  exchange.  In  1861  the  camp  saw  its 
best  days,  and  from  that  time  began  to  decline,  as 
the  richest  ground  became  worked  out. 

For  three  or  four  years  more  it  continued  to 
produce  considerable  amounts,  and  before  the 
close  of  1865  had  produced  in  all  over  four  mil- 
lions of  dollars  in  gold.  The  subsequent  years, 
up  to  1868,  brought  forth  about  seventy-five  thou- 
sand dollars  more,  but  by  that  time  the  camp  was 
about  deserted.  In  1868,  the  "Printer  Boy"  gold 
mine  was  discovered.  This  proved  to  be  valu- 
able enough,  so  that  a  stamp-mill  was  erected  to 
crush  its  ore.  This  mill,  in  the  next  six  years, 
produced  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  in  bullion,  but  was  not  very  successfully 
managed  thereafter.     In  1874,  W.  H.  Stevens  and 


m  2  0  HE  A  VY  SAND. 

A.  B.  Wood  came  into  California  Gulch,  and 
began  to  construct  a  long  ditch  to  work  the  placer 
claims  along  the  stream,  by  hydraulic  process,  and 
to  bring  in  water  sufficient  to  wash  the  unworked 
gravel-banks  higher  up,  that  bordered  the  stream. 
They  brought  the  water  from  the  head-waters  of 
the  Arkansas  River,  and  two  or  three  years  were 
required  to  complete  the  enterprise,  and  the  first 
full  summer's  work  was  not  put  in  until  that  of 
1878.     During  the  time  since  work  first  began  in 

The  Heavy  Sand  in  the  Slnice-Boxes. 

the  gulch,  miners  had  been  troubled  with  a  kind 
of  heavy  sand,  that  filled  the  sluice-boxes,  but,  of 
course,  deemed  it  of  no  value.  Messrs.  Stevens 
and  Wood  had  assays  made,  and  found  it  to  be 
carbonate  of  lead,  carrying  considerable  silver. 

Others  made  similar  discoveries  about  the  same 
time;  this  was  in  1876-77.  It  seems,  however, 
that  all  were  very  quiet  about  making  their  dis- 
coveries known,  until  they  were  in  a  fair  way  to 
secure  Government  titles  to  their  claims. 

Stevens  and  Wood  located  mine  claims,  the 
principal  ones  being  the  Iron,  the  Dome,  Rock, 
Stone,  Lime,  and  Bull's-eye.  The  first  "strike" 
of  note  was  made  by  the  Gallagher  Brothers  dur- 
ing the  same  fall  and  winter,  and  was  called  the 
"Camp  Bird."  It  was  near  the  Iron  mine,  but 
farther  toward  Stray  Horse  Gulch.  In  1877,  these 
mines  began  to  produce  ore  enough,  so  that  in 


LEAD  VILLE  FO  UNDED.  a2  I 

April  of  that  year  A.  R.  Meyer,  purchasing  agent 
for  the  St.  Louis  Smelting  Company,  established 
sampling  works  for  the  purchase  of  silver  ore, 
near  the  present  site  of  Leadville.  A  month  later 
the  St.  Louis  company  began  to  erect  a  smelter 
and  blast-furnace,  and  had  it  in  operation  early  in 
the  fall. 

In  June,  1877,  Charles  Mater  started  the  first 
building  in  Leadville,  and  opened  with  a  stock  of 
groceries.  Several  other  cabins  were  completed 
by  the  time  Mater  began  to  sell  goods. 

H.  A.  W.  Tabor,  who  had  conducted  a  small 
store  for  many  years  up  the  gulch  at  Oro,  and 
later  at  Fairplay,  brought  a  stock  of  goods  to 
Leadville  soon  after  Mater  had  established  his 
store.  Thus  began  the  city  which  to-day,  less 
than  three  years  later,  after  having  passed  through 
such  a  mining  excitement  as  the  world  had  never 
seen,  boasts  of  a  population  of  over  twenty  thou- 
sand people.  The  history  of  Leadville  has  been 
so  frequently  "written  up,"  that  we  shall  not  en- 
deavor to  give  in  detail  all  its  subsequent  history 
since  1877.  We  shall,  therefore,  give  only  such  a 
portion  of  its  history  as  will  interest  the  general 
reader. 

It  was  not  until  1878  that  any  considerable  ex- 
citement was  manifested.  Since  that  time  there 
has  been  a  constant  stream  of  immigration  pour- 
ing into  the  city.  At  one  time  it  seemed  as  if  the 
whole  world  was   rushing  to   Leadville.     Hotels, 


422  LEADVILLE   "BOOMING." 

restaurants  and  lodging-houses  were  hardly  half 
sufficient  to  feed  and  lodge  the  army  of  strangers 
who  were  arriving  daily.  The  few  hundred  who 
found  the  camp  as  early  as  January,  1878,  became 
as  many  thousand  before  the  summer  was  half 
gone.  A  city  government  was  organized,  officials 
elected,  newspapers  established,  hotels  and  banks 
and  business  houses  built  and  opened,  all  within 
an  incredible  short  time. 

In  March,  1878,  the  first  large  sale  of  mining 
property  was  made.  The  St.  Louis  Smelting 
Company  purchased  the  "Camp  Bird"  mine,  and 
some  adjoining  claims,  for  the  snug  sum  of  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  This 
sent  the  camp  "  booming."  Those  who  sold  had 
been  poor,  hard-working  men  previous  to  this 
time,  and  their  rise  to  sudden  wealth  began  to 
spread  the  fame  of  the  new  camp  far  and  wide. 
Mines  were  located  by  the  thousand.  On  some  of 
these  shafts  were  sunk,  and  the  carbonate  strata 
being  reached,  the  fortunate  owners  were  able  to 
sell  their  claims  for  fabulous  sums.  On  some  cf 
them  the  outlay  had  been  small,  and,  of  course,  the 
profits  from  the  sale  were  immense.  Men  who 
had  previously  scarcely  ever  had  a  dollar  ahead, 
found  themselves  suddenly  "rolling  in  wealth." 
The  excitement  became  so  great  that  the  whole 
country  was  supposed  to  be  underlaid  with  the 
rich  carbonate  strata,  which  lay  flat,  as  was  sup- 
posed, like   a    coal    measure.     Accordingly,   any 


FLOCKING    TO  LEADVILLE.  a2^ 

kind  of  a  prospect-hole  at  one  time  could  find  a 
ready  sale,  even  though  it  had  in  it  not  a  particle 
of  mineral.  Its  location  would  sell  it  for  a  good 
round  sum  if  it  were  anywhere  near  the  producing 
mines.  Some  men  from  a  small  investment  in  a 
barren  prospect-hole,  upon  sinking  their  shafts, 
struck  the  ore  body  and  made  handsome  fortunes. 
A  German,  from  an  investment  of  thirty  dollars  in 
the  Little  Chief  mine,  is  said  to  have  realized  sixty 
thousand.  Others,  less  fortunate,  lost  their  in- 
vestment. It  was  found  the  carbonate  belt  had 
limits,  and  that  it  was  not  everywhere  of  the  same 
richness.  Still  the  mad  rush  to  Leadville  con- 
tinued Capitalists  and  speculators  flocked  to  the 
new  El  Dorado,  as  well  as  the  mechanic  and  la- 
borer. One  hundred  men  per  day  was  the  aver- 
age arrivals  in  the  city  for  much  of  the  time  during 
the  first  six  months  of  the  year  1878. 

High  Prices  of  Real  Estate  and  Rents. 

Speculation  ran  rife  in  everything.  Town  lots, 
bought  for  a  trifle  in  the  year  previous,  sold  fre- 
quently for  thousands  each  in  1879.  The  land  on 
Chestnut  Street,  bought  formerly  from  the  Gov- 
ernment at  two  dollars  and  a  half  per  acre,  sold 
readily  a  year  later  for  ten  thousand  dollars  for  a 
seventy-five  foot  front.  The  purchaser  of  such  a 
lot  sold  fifty  feet  of  it  the  very  next  day  for  the 
same   amount.     The  Grand    Hotel,  built  on  the 

same  street  at  a  cost  of  eight  thousand  dollars, 

26 


424  men  prices. 

was  sold  in  a  few  months  for  fourteen  thousand, 
and.  later,  could  not  be  purchased  for  forty  thou- 
sand. Nine  lots  were  sold  in  the  suburbs  for  one 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  Within  twenty- 
four  hours  the  party  who  bought  them  was  offered 
three  thousand  dollars  for  his  bargain.  Lots  on 
Chestnut  and  Harrison  Streets,  which  sold  in  1879 
at  one  dollar  per  foot  front,  were  eagerly  taken 
early  the  next  year  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  to 
two  thousand  dollars  per  foot.  The  Theatre 
Comique,  a  one-story  frame  shell,  fifty  by  one 
hundred  feet,  rents  for  the  enormous  sum  of  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  dollars  per  month,  or 
over  twenty  thousand  dollars  per  year;  and  the 
receipts  here  have  run  up  to  one  thousand  two 
hundred  dollars  per  night.  A  log  house,  opposite, 
rented  for  seven  hundred  dollars  per  month.  The 
City  Hall  building,  on  Chestnut  Street,  by  no 
means  an  ornate  affair,  rents  for  seven  thousand 
two  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 

In  some  respects,  Leadville  is  the  most  remark- 
able city  the  world  has  ever  seen,  and  it  probably 
came  nearer  being  built  in  a  day  than  any  city  of 
its  size  in  the  universe.  It  is  finely  situated  on  the 
left  bank  of  California  Gulch,  on  a  broad  and 
gentle  slope,  near  the  foot  of  the  Mosquito  Range, 
in  the  midst  of  the  Rockies,  surrounded  by  tower- 
ing mountain  peaks.  The  streets  lying  parallel 
to  the  general  direction  of  the  mountains  are  com- 
paratively level,  having  everywhere  an  easy  grade. 


GR  O  WTH  OF  LEAD  VILLE.  i  2  5 

Its  elevation  is  ten  thousand  three  hundred  feet, 
while  some  of  the  surrounding  mountains  rise 
grandly  to  fourteen  thousand  five  hundred  feet, 
their  summits  generally  capped  with  snow. 

The  growth  of  Leadville  is  unprecedented.  In 
January,  1878,  the  camp  consisted  of  about  twenty 
log  cabins.  Four  months  later,  the  number  of 
buildings  had  increased  to  four  hundred,  and  at 
the  present  time  there  is  not  less  than  two  thou- 
sand buildings  of  various  sorts,  many  being  fine 
structures  of  brick  and  stone.  In  June,  1878,  its 
population  was  fifteen  hundred.  In  January,  1879, 
a  census  taken  gave  a  population  of  over  five  thou- 
sand. Since  then  it  has  grown  past  all  precedent, 
and  in  January,  1880,  was  variously  estimated  at 
from  twenty  to  thirty  thousand,  and  even  higher. 

Every  branch  of  business  is  represented  in 
Leadville,  from  the  wholesale  house,  doing  a  large 
trade  with  the  surrounding  mining  camps,  to  the 
apple  and  orange  vendor  on  the  street.  The 
streets  are  crowded  with  men,  and  teams,  and 
vehicles,  and  vim,  and  bustle,  and  business  are  the 
marked  characteristics  of  this  wonderful  city.  The 
city  has  good  water-works,  an  excellent  police 
department,  a  fair  fire  department,  and  has  lately 
put  in  a  fire-alarm  and  gas-works.  It  has  also  a 
telephone  exchange,  connecting  all  the  principal 
business  places  of  the  city  with  a  general  office. 
All  this,  and  much  more,  has  been  accomplished 
in  the  short  space  of  a  year  and  a  half. 


426 


VALUE  OF  ORES. 


Thirty-four  smelters  are  reducing  ore  from  over 
two  hundred  and  forty  producing  mines,  turning 
out,  when  all  in  full  blast,  nearly  one  million  dol- 
lars in  value  per  month. 

Some  of  the  Mines— Value  of  Ore,  etc. 

Some  of  the  best-known  mines,  with  the  value 
of  the  ore  per  ton,  will  be  shown  in  the  following 
statement  of  the  average  amount  of  silver  and 
lead  per  ton.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind,  how- 
ever, that  no  perfectly  reliable  table  can  be  made 
in  so  new  and  active  a  mining  camp  as  Leadville. 
It  is  correct  only  so  far  as  it  goes,  as  there  are 
still  many  other  mines  which  are  yielding  almost 
"  as  profitable  results,  and  more  are  being  con- 
stantly discovered : 

Ounces  Silver 
Name  of  Mine.  per  ton. 

Agassiz,  average 35  "  20  per  cent.  lead. 

Adelaide,  average 30  "  50        "  " 

Carbonate,  average,  1st  grade 600  9* 

•«  «•  2d     "     200  " 

Crescent,  average,  1st  grade 200  " 

»  «        2d      " 80  " 

Colorado  Chief,  average 24  "  20  per  cent.  lead. 

Carboniferous,  average 125  " 

Chrysolite,  average 125  " 

Cyclops,  average 80  " 

Dyer,  average,  1st  grade 375  " 

"  "         2d       "     125  " 

Double-Decker,  average,  1st  grade...   196  "  and  5  ounces  gold. 

Evening  Star,  average,  1st  grade 170  "  40  per  cent.  lead. 

Gone  Abroad,  average,  1st  grade 296  " 

"  «'         2d     "       100  " 

Henrietta,  average 46  "  44  per  cent.  lead. 


THE  TRIANGLE  MINE.  *2j 

Ounces  Silver 
Name  of  Mine.  P-i'  U»a, 

Little  Pittsburgh,   1st  grade 150  "  20  per  cent.  lead. 

'<  "  2d      "      80  " 

*'  "  2d  shaft,  1st  grade,  200  "  65  per  cent.  lead. 

"  «  «         2d      "  80  *'• 

Little  Chief,  average 120  "  30  per  cent.  lead. 

Lima,  average 15  "  24      *  **  " 

Morning  Star,  1st  grade 180  "  40        "  ** 

"  u     2d      "     „ 75  " 

New  Discovery,  average 160  "  30  per  cent.  lead. 

North  Star,  average 80  '•' 

Silver  Wave,  1st  grade 290  " 

"         "        2d      "     100  "  45  per  cent.  lead. 

Terrible,  average 25  "  40        "  " 

Vulture,  ist  grade 238  "  68        « 

"        2d     **      80  "  65        "  " 

Iron,  average 225  "  45         "  " 

Probably  one  of  the  richest  little  finds  ever 
made  in  this  wonderful  camp  was  the  Triangle 
mine,  a  little  patch  of  ground,  triangular  in  shape, 
whose  side-lines  were  only  thirty-four  feet  in 
length.  It  is  surrounded  by  the  "Little  Chief," 
"Chrysolite,"  Vulture"  and  "Little  Eva,"  and  had 
been  overlooked.  It  is  said  that  a  chain-man, 
while  assisting  in  the  survey  of  one  of  those  claims, 
discovered  the  little  vacant  lot,  and  immediately 
dropped  his  chain  and  located  the  ground.  It  was 
a  lucky  find  for  him,  for  from  this  limited  space 
over  fifty-eight  thousand  dollars  were  taken  out 
at  a  cost  of  less  than  five  thousand  dollars.  The 
mineral  is  now  exhausted,  unless  a  second  deposit 
exists  below.  How  many  other  triangles  are 
nestling  in  and  around  Leadville  will  not  be  known 
until  after  years  of  further  prospecting. 


42g  LUCKY  MEN. 

A  List  of  a  Few  who  "Struck  it  Rich." 

The  subjoined  list  ranges  from  men  who  reached 
Leadville  without  a  dollar,  to  those  who  had  capi- 
tal to  begin  operations,  and  does  not  include  in 
full  the  sales  made  by  each  or  all  interests  yet 
held  by  them,  but  only  such  transactions  as  are 
known  to  the  public.  The  list  would  be  greatly 
extended  by  searching  the  records,  and  by  men- 
tion of  the  army  of  successful  business  men  of 
Leadville  :* 

Dick  and  Pat  Dillon  made  $150,000  from  the 
sale  of  "Little  Chief." 

George  Spencer,  $6,000  from  sale  of  interest  in 
the  Chrysolite. 

Jack  Calhoun,  $17,000  from  sale  of  interest  in 
Black  Prince. 

Mike  Morris,  $40,000  in  "Wolf  Tone"  mine. 

A.  B.  Wood,  $40,000  in  Iron  mine. 

J.  C.  Langhorne,  $62,500  in  Vulture  mine. 

J.  W.  Johnson,  $62,500  in  Vulture  mine. 

Al  Rennic,  $62,500  in  Vulture  mine. 

R.  M.  Moore,  $9,000  in  Vulture  mine. 

W.  B.  Page,  $9,000  in  Vulture  mine. 

Breck  &  Co.,  $1 1,500  in  Vulture  mine. 

C.  B.  Rustin,  $6,000  in  Vulture  mine. 

John  H.  Talbut,  $18,000  in  Vulture  mine. 

Geo.  H.  Fryer,  $40,000  in  New  Discovery  mine. 

Charles,  Pat  and  John  Gallagher,  $250,000  in 
Camp  Bird  and  other  mines. 

*  For  authority,  see  New  Year's  edition,  Denver  Trilune,  iooO. 


LUCKY  MEN.  *2g 

A.  P.  Moore,  $25,000  in  Matchless  mine. 

T.  Benton  Wilgus,  $75,000  in  Matchless  and 
other  properties. 

John  Borden,  $25,000  in  Chrysolite  and  other 
mines. 

Jerome  B.  Chaffee,  $250,000  in  New  Discovery. 

August  Rische,  $262,500  in  Little  Pittsburg. 

H.  A.  W.  Tabor,  $1,300,000  in  Little  Pittsburg 
Consolidation. 

James  Healy,  Mike  Mackey,  Patrick  Nash  and 
Michael  Brown,  $35,000  from  Colorado  Prince. 

Howard  Oviatt,  George  Washburn,  T.  J.  Cooper 
and  Peter  Klinefelter,  $62,000  each  from  Scooper 
mine. 

John  Borden,  Jr.,  $40,000,  in  New  Discovery. 

E.  C.  Kavanaugh,  C.  Visscher,  D.  Rainey,  W. 
K.  Burchinell,  Charles  and  Peter  Peterson,  and 
Meek,  $195,000  in  Denver  City  mine. 

J.  T.  Monroe  and  George  Williams,  $50,000  in 
Little  Eva. 

Captain  Jacque,  $175,000  in  Smuggler  mine. 

Frank  Caley,  $50,000  in  Undine  mine. 

Eddy  &  James,  $50,000  in  Robt.  E.  Lee  mine. 

James  W.  Younger,  $6,000  for  one-eighth  in- 
terest in  the  Deer  Lodge  mine. 

George  T.  Hook,  $140,000  from  Little  Pitts- 
burg mine  and  ore. 

Nelson  Hallock  and  Captain  Albert  Cooper, 
$250,000  from  Carbonate  mine. 

Captain  Plummer,  $300,000  in  Yankee  Doodle. 


4^0  LUCKY  MEN. 

Breece  Estate,  $75,000  from  Breece  mine. 

Tim  Foley,  $97,000  in  Matchless  mine,  $25,000 
in  Union  Emma  mine,  and  owns  $200,000  stock 
in  the  Highland  Chief  Consolidation,  besides  other 
valuable  property. 

George  W.  Trimble,  $100,000  in  Winnemuc 
mine,  and  is  largely  interested  in  Highland  Chief 
and  other  mines. 

Jed  H.  Bascom,  $25,000  in  Union  Emma,  and  is 
part  owner  in  Highland  Chief  Consolidation. 

Charles  W.  Tankersley  made  $50,000  out  of  the 
Highland  Chief  Consolidation,  and  is  owner  in 
other  valuable  properties. 

Henry  W.  Wolcott  made  $115,000  on  sale  of 
the  Robert  E.  Lee. 

James  V.  Dexter  realized  $20,000  from  R.  E. 
Lee,  and  has  mining  interests  worth  $60,000. 

James  Y.  Marshall  has  an  interest  in  the  R.  E. 
Lee  worth  $200,000. 

J.  S.  Fitz  made  $100,000  on  sale  of  Little  Chief 
and  other  mines. 

Jacob  Saunders,  William  Parker  and  Colonel  R. 
L.  Hopkins  divided  $150,000  on  sale  of  Small 
Hopes  Mining  Pool  property. 

William  H.  Bush  has  made  $200,000  by  real 
estate. 

S.  H.  Foss,  $125,000  in  Winnemuc,  and  is 
heavily  interested  in  Highland  Chief  and  others. 

Ex-Governor  Routt,  George  C.  Corning  and 
James  Watson  are  rich  by  reason  of  ownership  of 


R  OBER  T  E.  LEE  MINE.  *  ^  r 

the  Morning  Star  mine.     A  grand  total  of  nearly 

five   millions  of  profits  in  mine  speculation  in  a 

single  camp. 

Some  of  the  Big  Bonanzas, 

Probably  one  of  the  richest  mines  in  the  world 
is  a  small  claim,  located  on  Fryer  Hill,  near  Lead- 
ville,  called  the  Robert  E.  Lee.  Early  in  1879  a 
gentleman  in  Denver  was  offered  an  interest  in 
the  mine  for  the  modest  sum  of  six  hundred  dol- 
lars, but  had  no  confidence  in  the  claim,  and  never 
gave  it  a  thought  afterward,  until  late  in  the  sea- 
son, when  a  very  rich  strike  was  made  in  the  mine. 
Now  the  mine  is  one  of  unparalleled  richness,  turn- 
ing out  some  of  the  richest  ore  known  in  the  his- 
tory of  mining.  On  January  14th,  1880,  one  hun- 
dred and  eighteen  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  ore 
was  taken  from  the  mine  in  eighteen  hours,  some 
of  it  rating  as  high  as  eighteen  thousand  dollars 
per  ton.  From  Monday,  January  4th,  to  Tuesday, 
January  13th,  the  production  had  exceeded  ten 
thousand  dollars  per  day.  This  fact  induced  the 
owners  to  make  an  effort  on  some  particular  day 
to  see  how  much  of  the  valuable  ore  could  be 
mined  and  raised.  Accordingly,  at  one  o'clock 
P.  M.,  the  start  was  made  for  the  big  run.  The 
ore  was  accordingly  kept  by  itself,  and  shipped  to 
Eddy,  James  &  Co.'s  sampling  works,  where  it  was 
assorted  and  carefully  tested  and  sold.  Five  of 
the  lots  assayed  as  follows:  Lot  No.  1,  11,830 
ounces  per  ton;  Lot  No.  2,  4,993  ounces  per  ton; 


432 


MAR  VEL  O  US  PR  OD  UCTIONS. 


Lot  No.  3,  1,234  ounces  per  ton;  Lot  No.  4,  1,088 
ounces  per  ton;  Lot  No.  5,  568  ounces  per  ton. 
The  whole  production  of  the  eighteen  hours  was 
ninety-five  tons,  which  averaged  over  a  thousand 
ounces  per  ton,  bringing  about  eighteen  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars.  For  several  months  there- 
after the  average  daily  output  of  the  Lee  mine 
was  forty  tons  of  rich  ore,  though,  of  course,  not 
always  as  rich  as  the  above. 

The  Chrysolite  Mine. 

During  the  early  part  of  1879,  this  claim  was 
regarded  as  only  valuable  because  of  its  proximity 
to  the  Little  Pittsburg  and  Little  Chief  mines,  on 
Fryer  Hill.  It  is  now  considered  as  one  of  the 
best  mines  in  Leadville.  The  product  during  the 
month  of  January,  1880,  was  one  hundred  and 
fifty-five  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-four 
dollars  and  twenty-three  cents ;  and  during  one 
week,  ending  January  17th,  one  thousand  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  tons  of  ore  were  extracted, 
for  which  the  company  received  the  snug  sum  of 
ninety-nine  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy- 
three  dollars  and  seventy-one  cents,  or  at  the  rate 
of  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-four  dol- 
lars and  eighty  cents  per  day.  And  its  record 
ever  since  has  been  extraordinarily  good. 

The  Morning"  Star  Mine, 

owned  by  ex-Governor  J.  L.  Routt  and  others,  has 
a  high  reputation,  and  is  fast  making  its  owners 


GOOD  INVESTMENTS.  433 

rich.     A  piece  of  selected  ore,  chloride  of  silver, 
was' taken  from  the  mine  early  in  1880,  which  ran 
as  high  as  thirteen  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighty-four  ounces  of  silver  per  ton,  or  at  the  rate 
of* fifteen  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-nine 
dollars  and  ninety-two  cents.     This  was  not,  of 
course,  a  fair  sample  of  the  whole  ore  body,  as  it 
averages  only  about  fifty  ounces  in  silver  and  fifty 
per  cent,  in  lead.     The  great  value  of  the  mine 
consists  in  its  large  ore  bodies  and  great  percent- 
age of  lead,  an  element  in  the  reduction  of  ore  of 
the  utmost  importance,  having  its  own  flux  for 
smelting,  for  without  that  no  smelting  can  be  done. 

The  Little  Chief  Mine. 

This  claim  turns  out  a  large  amount  of  rich  ore. 
The  ore  output  for  the  year  1879  was  over  seven- 
teen thousand  tons.  But  within  the  time  much 
dead-work  had  to  be  done  to  get  the  mine  in 
shape  for  heavy  production.  The  mine  cost  the 
Chicago  company  who  own  it  three  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  They  have,  it  is  said,  realized  from 
it,  over  and  above  expenses,  five  millions,  and  then 
sold  one-half  of  it  for  one  million  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

The  Little  Pittsburg  Consolidation  of  Mines. 

This  company  have,  in  less  than  two  years  since 
they  were  organized,  paid  in  dividends  one  million 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars;  eight  hundred  and  fifty 


434  >  COST  OF  LIVING. 

thousand  dollars  of  it  having  been  paid  up  to  Jan- 
uary ist,  1880.  The  total  product  of  the  mine  up 
to  June  ist,  1880,  was  thirty  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  four  tons  of  mineral,  for  which  the  com- 
pany received  one  million  five  hundred  and  ninety- 
one  thousand  and  thirty-eight  dollars  and  seventy- 
two  cents.  The  expenses  of  extracting. and  selling 
it,  including  office  expenses,  were  five  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  and  sixty-four  dollars  and  eight 
cents,  according  to  an  official  statement  made  July 
ist.  The  company  had  a  financial  record  almost 
unprecedented  in  the  annals  of  mining  up  to  the 
spring  of  1880,  when,  through  the  mismanagement 
of  officers,  stock  manipulations  by  tricky  directors, 
and  the  unnecessary  exhaustion  of  ore  reserves, 
the  company  had  to  stop  paying  dividends  and 
fell  into  bad  repute. 

Many  other  valuable  mines  might  be  noticed  in 
this  connection,  but  we  have  not  space  for  an  ex- 
tended sketch  of  all  the  rich  bonanzas  of  Lead- 
ville,  and  must  draw  a  line  somewhere;  so  we 
omit  them. 

The  Cost  of  Living,  Prices  of  Provisions,  etc. 

The  cost  of  living  in  Leadville,  during  1879,  was 
not  high  in  proportion  to  most  new  towns  and 
mining  camps,  and  now  that  the  railway  has 
reached  the  city,  prices  will  be  still  further  re- 
duced. Flour  was  five  to  six  dollars  per  hundred 
weight;  potatoes,  five   cents  per  pound;  butter, 


THE  GREAT  STRIKE.  »^c 

forty  cents;  eggs,  forty  cents  per  dozen;  sugar 
(granulated),  fifteen  cents  per  pound;  hams,  fifteen 
cents  per  pound;  bacon,  fourteen  cents;  fresh 
meats,  thirteen  to  twenty-five  cents ;  kerosene  oil, 
seventy  cents  per  gallon;  syrup,  one  dollar  and  a 
half  per  gallon;  lard,  fifteen  cents;  fresh  milk, 
twenty  cents  per  quart;  hay,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars  per  ton;  oats,  six  cents  per  pound; 
lumber,  fifty  dollars  per  thousand;  board,  seven  to 
ten  dollars  per  week;  doctors'  visits,  three  dollars; 
saddle-horses,  per  day,  three  dollars  and  a  half; 
first-class  hotels,  three  to  four  dollars  per  day  for 
transient  custom. 

The  Miners'  Great  Strike  for  Wages. 

About  the  first  of  June,  1880,  the  miners  of 
Leadville  struck  for  higher  wages;  or,  as  some 
claim,  against  a  reduction  of  wages.  For  a  week 
or  more  business  was  at  a  standstill.  Most  of  the 
smelters  had  to  blow  out,  and  furnaces  had  to  be 
allowed  to  cool  from  which  the  fires  were  never 
out  before  since  they  started.  The  miners,  in  a 
mob,  marched  to  the  various  mines  and  smelters, 
and  with  threats  of  violence  prevented  men  from 
going  to  work.  In  consequence,  Leadville's  pro- 
duction of  thirty  thousand  dollars  per  day  or  more 
suddenly  decreased  to  mere  nothing.  It  was  a 
severe  blow  to  the  city,  from  which  her  merchants 
and  business  men  have  as  yet  hardly  recovered. 
Troops  were  called  out  to  preserve  order  and 


436 


HOW  TO  REACH  LEADVILLE. 


guard  property  from  destruction ;  the  governor 
declared  martial  law,  and  for  a  time  things  as- 
sumed a  serious  look.  Frequent  threats  were 
made  by  miners  and  roughs  of  burning  the  city, 
but  no  such  attempt  was  made. 

This  condition  of  .things  lasted  for  some  time, 
but  at  length  order  was  restored.  The  mine 
owners,  in  some  cases,  under  protection  of  the 
military,  filled  the  places  of  strikers  with  new  men 
and  resumed  work.  Finally  the  labor  difficulties 
were  arranged,  and  one  after  another  of  the  mines 
and  furnaces  started  up,  until  all  were  in  full  blast. 
The  riot,  however,  left  its  effects  behind,  and  it' 
proved  the  cause  of  driving  from  the  city  to  other 
mining  districts  many  miners  and  a  large  float- 
ing population;  and  it  is  said  that  Leadville  has 
since  been  dull,  and  hardly  boasts  of  its  formei 
greatness. 

Routes  by  which  to  Reach  Leadville. 

The  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railway  has  now 
(July,  1880)  reached  Leadville,  which  will  be  m 
great  benefit  to  the  city  in  the  way  of  transporta- 
tion, and  a  vast  saving  in  freights.  The  saving  of 
a  couple  of  cents  per  pound  on  merchandise,  ore 
and  base  bullion  can  hardly  help  lending  a  great 
impetus  to  business,  which,  together  with  the 
greater  expedition  and  much  shorter  time  with, 
which  freights  can  be  moved,  will  add  very  mate- 
rially to  the  profits  of  mining. 


CHOICE  OF  ROUTES.  A^n 

While  it  is  probable  that  Leadville  has  seen  its 
day  of  greatest  population,  it  doubtless  has  still 
years  of  prosperity  ahead.  While  such  highly- 
inflated  prices  of  real  estate,  rents  and  property 
of  all  kinds  cannot  last,  yet  it  would  be  folly  to 
suppose  that  mines  covering  such  a  large  extent 
of  territory  could  be  speedily  worked  out.  It  will 
take  years  to  exhaust  even  the  amount  of  ore  "in 
sight"  at  present,  while  new  ore  bodies  are  being 
constantly  developed.  Leadville  can  now  be 
reached  by  rail  from  Denver  by  two  routes.  The 
time  required  is  about  fourteen  hours. 

The  Denver  and  South  Park  Railway  route,  up 
through  Platte  Canon,  over  Webster  Summit  or 
Keneshoa  Divide,  down  into  South  Park,  then  into 
the  valley  of  the  Arkansas  to  Buena  Vista  (a  route 
described  in  previous  pages) ;  thence  from  Buena 
Vista,  by  an  arrangement  with  the  Denver  and 
Rio  Grande  Railway  Company,  the  South  Park 
company  run  their  trains  over  that  road,  up  the 
valley  of  the  Arkansas  to  Leadville. 

The  other  route  is  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande 
Railway  to  Pueblo,  thence  to  Canon  City,  and  up 
through  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas,  and 
the  magnificent  scenery  along  the  route,  to  South 
Arkansas  Station ;  thence  on  to  Buena  Vista  and 
Leadville. 

Either  route  presents  a  grand  pleasure  trip 
through  some  of  the  most  wild  and  romantic 
scenery  in  America.     The  fare   is  the  same   by 


433 


THE  ROUND   TRIP. 


either  route.  One  of  the  most  delightful  pleasure 
trips  in  the  world  would  be  the  journey  from  Den- 
ver, by  one  of  these  routes,  to  Leadville,  and  a 
return  by  the  other  route.  It  is  an  easy  journey, 
in  comfortable  coaches,  and  people  with  limited 
time  who  choose  can,  in  a  two-days'  journey,  make 
the  trip,  and  see  some  of  the  grandest  mountain 
scenery  in  the  world.  Such  a  variety  of  pictures 
are  presented  of  mountains,  canons,  desert  plain 
and  rich  green  fields,  as  few  could  imagine  until 
they  have  seen. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

STOCK  GAMBLING MINING  SPECULATIONS — TRICKS  OF   SHARPERS,  ETC.— 

THE  ASSESSMENT  LAWS  OF  CALIFORNIA  AND  NEVADA — "FREEZING 
OUT"  SMALL  STOCKHOLDERS — COMSTOCK  MANAGEMENT — THE  CON- 
SOLIDATED VIRGINIA  AND  CALIFORNIA  MANAGEMENT — ASSESSMENTS 
LEVIED  IN  NEVADA  IN  1 879 — DIVIDENDS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN 
1879 — THE  LITTLE  PITTSBURG  STOCK  BUBBLE — GREAT  DECLINE  IN 
VALUE — A  COMMON  SWINDLE— "  WILD-CAT  "  MINES — TUNNEL  SCHEMES 

REPORTS  OF  PROFESSED  EXPERTS,  ETC. — BIG   PROFITS   TO  PROMOTERS 

IN  STOCKING  MINES,   ETC. — "  SALTED"    MINES,   ETC. 

Stock  Gambling,  Mining  Speculations,  Tricks  of  Sharpers,  etc. 

GOLD  and  silver  mining  being  a  business 
which  requires  a  large  expenditure  of 
money  and  heavy  investments  of  capital, 
often  for  a  considerable  length  of  time  before  re- 
turns or  profits  can  be  expected,  it  very  naturally 
happened  that  the  operation  of  mines  by  means  of 
stock  companies  and  large  corporations  became 
the  favorite  method  among  capitalists,  as  the  risk 
is  very  great  for  private  enterprise.  Undoubtedly 
the  organization  of  stock  companies,  when  prop- 
erly officered  and  honestly  managed,  is  the  proper 
method  of  operating  mines.  And  there  is  no 
question,  but  that  the  bona-fide,  actual  sale  or  pur- 
chase of  mining  stock,  carried  on  with  honest  in- 
tent, is  as  legitimate  a  business  as  any  other. 
But,  like  many  other  branches  of  business,  such 
as  the  speculation  in  railway  shares,  and  dealings 
27  439 


44Q  STOCK  GAMBLING. 

in  grain  and  produce  at  the  exchange  on  "  mar- 
gins," it  frequently  happens  that  rogues  occupying 
the  positions  of  trusted  officials,  and  that  smart 
operators  at  the  exchanges,  find  an  opportunity  to 
manipulate  the  price  of  the  stock  of  a  really  valu- 
able mine  to  suit  their  own  dishonest  purposes, 
often  to  their  own  enrichment  and  to  the  loss  and 
ruin  of  the  unknowing  stockholders.  Fortunes 
have  been  made  by  such  men  in  this  manner,  and 
are  still  being  made.  There  is  a  large  class  of 
operators  in  mines  who  care  nothing  whatever  for 
the  profits  that  may  accrue  to  them  from  legitimate 
mining,  or  the  production  and  profits  from  ore  ex- 
tracted from  the  mine  or  mines  which  they  may 
control.  Such  is  too  slow  a  method  of  accumula- 
tion for  them;  they  seek  only  the  profits  which  may 
come  from  their  manipulation  of  the  prices  of  the 
stocks  they  own,  and  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  market 
for  the  shares  of  the  mines  which  they  control. 
Until  recently,  San  Francisco  has  been  the  point 
where  the  greatest  operations  in  mining  shares 
have  taken  place,  and  the  speculations  there  were 
upon  a  gigantic  scale.  The  frauds  that  have  been 
practiced  upon  innocent  shareholders,  by  shrewd 
managers  of  mines  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  have  been 
immense.  The  laws  of  California  and  Nevada, 
allowing  the  officers  of  corporations  to  call  assess- 
ments on  mining  shares,  greatly  aided  the  oper- 
ators in  "fleecing"  small  stockholders,  and  in  de- 
frauding them  of  their  rights. 


ASSESSMENTS  OSV  STOCKS. 


441 


The  law  allowing  the  privilege  of  assessing 
shares  is  not  a  bad  law,  when  honest  managers  of 
mines  call  only  legitimate  assessments  for  actual 
amounts  required  to  carry  on  the  business  of 
mining.  Frequently  the  assessment  plan  has  ad- 
vantages over  the  non-assessment  plan,  and  is 
preferable,  as  in  non-assessable  shares,  frequently 
the  officers  have  to  borrow  money,  and  mortgage 
the  company's  property,  to  raise  money  to  carry 
on  developments  upon  the  property;  while  a  small 
assessment  upon  each  share,  honestly  and  legally 
enacted,  would  have  kept  the  company  out  of  debt 
and  upon  a  safe  footing.  But  the  abuse  of  the 
assessment  privilege  by  dishonest  officers,  in  call- 
ing assessments  when  none  were  needed,  for  the 
purpose  of  manipulating  the  price  of  shares  or 
depressing  the  stock  market;  calling  one  assess- 
ment after  another,  until  the  patience  and  pockets 
of  small  shareholders  were  exhausted,  forcing  them 
to  sell,  has  been  such  a  common  trick  of  the  oper- 
ators on  the  Pacific  Coast  that  the  assessment 
plan  has  been  brought  into  disrepute.  The  laws 
of  the  State  of  New  York  and  other  Eastern 
States,  and  those  of  Colorado,  prohibit  the  assess- 
ment of  the  shares  of  corporations ;  and,  of  late, 
most  mining  companies  are  organized  under  the 
non-assessable  plan.  The  mines  on  the  Comstock 
Lode  were  for  a  long  time,  and  are  still,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  favorite  field  of  operations  for  the 
sharpers  of  the  Pacific  Coast. 


442         CONSOLIDATED   VIRGINIA   OPERATIONS. 

The  following  sketch  of  the  history  of  two  mines 
on  the  lode  will  give  an  idea  of  the  great  fluctu- 
ation in  prices  of  shares,  largely  owing  to  the 
manipulation  of  stock  operators  and  the  officers 
of  the  mines.  The  Consolidated  Virginia  Mining 
Company  was  incorporated  June  7th,  1867,  own- 
ing five  claims,  aggregating  one  thousand  one 
hundred  and  sixty  feet,  on  the  Comstock  Lode. 
At  that  time  each  foot  on  the  lode  was  repre- 
sented by  one  share  of  stock,  par  value  one  hun- 
dred dollars.  On  July  6th,  1868,  the  manage- 
ment increased  the  number  of  shares  to  ten  shares 
for  each  foot,  adding  two  hundred  shares  beside, 
making  a  total  of  eleven  thousand  eight  hundred 
shares.  This  number  was  doubled  four  years 
later,  making  twenty-three  thousand  six  hundred 
shares,  two  thousand  of  which  were  deducted  for 
owners  of  claim  known  as  "Central  No.  2,"  who 
refused  to  accept  the  new  issue.  This  left  the 
Consolidated  Virginia  with  twenty-one  thousand 
six  hundred  shares,  and  one  thousand  and  ten  feet 
on  the  lode.  The  third  increase  was  made  Sep- 
tember 1 6th,  1873,  when  the  twenty-one  thousand 
six  hundred  shares  were  multiplied  by  five,  making 
one  hundred  and  eight  thousand  shares.  The 
fourth  increase  was  made  in  March,  1876,  when  it 
was  again  multiplied  by  five,  making  the  capital 
stock  five  hundred  and  forty  thousand  shares,  of 
the  par  value  of  one  hundred  dollars.  In  other 
words,  the  capital  had  been  increased  proportion- 


FL  UCTUA  TION  IN  PRICES.  aa\ 

ately  from  one  hundred  and  one  thousand  to  fifty- 
four  million  dollars.  But,  in  the  meantime,  the 
stock  had  been  still  more  inflated  by  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  California  Mining  Company,  on  the 
same  lode,  the  Consolidated  Virginia  parting  with 
three  hundred  feet  of  its  property,  which  was  put 
into  the  California  property,  which  was  stocked  also 
at  five  hundred  and  forty  thousand  shares,  with  only 
•six  hundred  feet  on  the  lode.  The  following  tables 
show  the  monthly  fluctuations  in  these  shares  for 
the  years  1874  and  1875,  and  the  consequent  rise 
and  depreciation  in  values: 


PER    SHARE. 

1874.  Highest.      Lowest. 

January , $97  50       $4  00 

February 70  00       62  50 

March 86  37^  67  50 

April 90  00      82  50 

May  (1st  div.) 85  00      66  50 

June 84  37^  78  00 


PER   SHARE. 

1874.                         Highest.  Lowest. 

July #85  00  #75  OO 

August 84  00  73  00 

September 94  00  80  25 

October 120  00  91  00 

November 188  00  121  00 

December 590  00  185  00 


The  fluctuations  in  Consolidated  Virginia  and  California  in  1875  were 
as  annexed : 

CON.   VIRGINIA.  CALIFORNIA. 

Month.                                                 Highest.           Lowest.  Highest.         Lowest. 

January #700            $500  #780  #300 

February 518              360  *8o  46 

March 470              405  .                68  52 

April 460              440  66  61 

May 460              395  64  63 

June 422              300  61  53 

July 341               297  65  55 

August 360              240  78  55 

September 280               245  60  51 

October 335               210  '                 65  51 

November , 400              237  76  50 

December 511               360  77  65 

*  New  stock — 5  shares  for  1  share. 


444 


CURIOUS  FACTS. 


Since,  on  a  basis  of  540,000  shares : 

CON.  VIRGINIA.  CALIFORNIA. 

Highest.        Lowest.        •  Highest.         Lowest. 

1876 #96  50   #3575    #9400   #4400 

i877 55  00   21  50     53  00 

1878 26  00    8  87^    34  00    12  00 

1879 9  87X   4  5°     JI  5o    4  50 

In  the  year  1879,  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
mines  of  the  State  of  Nevada  levied  assessments, 
amounting  to  eleven  million  four  hundred  and  four 
thousand  four  hundred  dollars;*  the  larger  por- 
tion of  this  amount  was  levied  upon  the  Comstock 
Lode.  The  total  dividends  from  the  incorporated 
dividend-paying  mines  of  the  United  States  for 
1879  (not  including  profits  from  private  com- 
panies), was  eleven  million  ninety-four  thousand 
four  hundred  and  twelve  dollars,f  or  about  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars  less  than  the  assess- 
ments upon  the  mines  of  a  single  State.  Yet  the 
State  of  Nevada  produced  in  gold  and  silver  bul- 
lion, in  1879,  almost  twenty- two  millions, %  or  about 
double  the  amount  of  assessments.  Why  this 
lack  of  dividends,  unless  it  be  swallowed  up  by 
dishonest  management  or  exorbitant  salaries  to 
mining  officials?  But,  although  the  assessment 
laws  of  the  Pacific  Coast  have  been  a  great  aid  to 
the  sharpers  in  "freezing  out"  small  stockholders, 

*  San  Francisco  Stock  Report,  December  22d,  1879. 

f  Mining  Record,  New  York. 

J  Twenty-one  million  nine  hundred  and  ninety-seven  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  fourteen  dollars.  Mr.  Valentine's  Report  of  Wells,  Fargo 
&  Co.'s  Express,  S.  F. 


WAYS  OF  THE  LITTLE  PITTSBURG.  a*c 

by  forcing  the  market  down,  and  compelling  weak 
shareholders  to  sell  by  burdening  them  with  as- 
sessments, yet  sharp  practices  are  not  confined  to 
assessable  stocks,  nor  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 

We  give  the  case  of  the  Little  Pittsburg  man- 
agement, as  one  instance  among  many  which 
might  be  cited  of  tricky  management  with  a  really 
valuable  mine,  of  which  the  stock  is  unassessable. 
The  Little  Pittsburg  Consolidated  Mining  Com- 
pany, of  Leadville,  Colorado,  was  organized  with 
a  capital  of  twenty  millions,  divided  into  two  hun- 
dred thousand  shares,  of  the  par  value  of  one 
hundred  dollars  each.  After  paying  thirteen  reg- 
ular monthly  dividends,  aggregating  one  million 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  up  to  the 
middle  of  January,  1880,  when  the  stock  was  sell- 
ing for  thirty  dollars  per  share,  making  the  current 
value  of  the  mine  six  millions  of  dollars,  the  stock 
suddenly  declined.  The  mine  continued  its  reg- 
ular dividend  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for 
February,  and  its  average  daily  output  of  nearly 
one  hundred  tons  of  ore;  yet,  with  no  apparent 
reason,  the  stock,  February  20th,  had  declined  to 
twenty-one  dollars  per  share,  and  a  week  later  to 
fifteen  dollars;  or,  in  a  month,  the  mine  had  de- 
preciated in  value  one-half.  By  March  the  1st  it 
had  fallen  to  twelve  dollars  and  a  half,  and  oper- 
ators wondered  at  the  big  decline,  while  the  pro- 
duction continued  to  be  large.  It  then  began  to 
be  rumored  that  the  ore  reserves  were  giving  out, 


446 


"MANAGING"  A  MINE. 


and  by  the  middle  of  March  it  was  as  low  as  eight 
dollars.  And  the  directors  of  the  company  sud- 
denly stopped  dividends.  Everybody  wondered. 
The  papers  heretofore  had  been  full  of  the  vast 
hidden  wealth  and  ore  reserves  of  the  Little  Pitts- 
burg. The  loss  to  stockholders  was  immense. 
The  stock  continued  to  decline,  until  in  May  it 
was  down  to  about  five  dollars.  In  the  meantime 
it  had  been  discovered  that  the  heaviest  stock- 
holders, who  were  directors  and  officers,  had  dis- 
posed of  eighty-five  thousand  shares  of  stock  be- 
tween February  ist  and  March  13th,  previous  to 
the  great  decline,  and  that  they  were  now  among 
the  smallest  stockholders,  having  been  quietly  dis- 
posing of  their  shares,  which  being  thrown  upon 
the  market,  had  been  the  prime  cause  of  the  great 
decline.  Another  fact  was  also  developed,  by  the 
examination  of  an  expert  of  the  underground 
workings  of  the  mines,  that  the  superintendent,  in 
order  to  pay  the  large  dividends,  had  been  allowed 
to  exhaust  the  amount  of  ore  in  sight  in  the  mine, 
and  through  mismanagement  had  not  properly 
explored  and  opened  up  new  ore-bodies  ahead  of 
the  production,  although  there  were  undoubtedly 
rich  ore-bodies  remaining.  In  other  words,  the 
mine  had  been  "managed"  to  suit  the  ideas  of  the 
heavy  stockholders,  who  wished  to  dispose  of  their 
stock  regardless  of  the  future  good  of  the  mine. 
Had  the  last  few  dividends  been  smaller,  and  the 
surplus  money  used    in   furthering  development 


WILD-CAT  MINES. 


447 


and  exposing  new  ore-bodies,  so  that  dividends 
need  not  have  ceased  altogether,  this  sudden  loss 
and  depreciation  to  the  stockholders  need  not 
have  occurred.  Above  all,  had  the  mine,  instead 
of  being  capitalized  at  the  greatly-inflated  sum  of 
twenty  millions,  been  put  at  one-tenth  of  that 
amount,  the  advantages  over  the  plan  which  was 
adopted  would  have  been  incalculable. 

A  "Very  Common  Swindle 

is  from  what  are  called  "Wild-Cat  Mines."  An 
advertisement  appears  in  all  the  mining  journals, 
and  mercantile  newspapers  and  others,  giving  a 
glowing  account  of  the  rich  assays  from  the  mine 
or  mines  in  question,  describing  it  as  in  close 
proximity  to  some  well-known,  valuable  mine,  or  as 
upon  some  "great  mineral  belt,"  or  as  an  extension 
of  some  valuable  lode.  A  prospectus  is  issued  and 
sent  out,  giving  the  graphic  description  of  some 
professed  mining  engineer  and  expert,  who  has 
examined  the  property,  and  who,  although  his 
name  is  unknown  to  the  public,  and  far  from  fa- 
miliar, finds  "millions  in  sight"  in  the  lode.  The 
capital  stock  is  one  million  dollars,  divided  into 
one  hundred  thousand  shares  of  ten  dollars  each 
(which  is  a  very  common  way  of  capitalizing 
mines).  "It  is  expected,"  the  circular  reads,  "that 
the  stock  will  speedily  advance  to  par  as  soon  as 
the  mill  is  completed  and  begins  to  crush  ore ;  but 
in  order  to  build  a  mill  and  further  develop  the 


448 


HOW  NOT  TO  INVEST. 


mine,  twenty-five  thousand  shares  will  be  disposed 
of  at  the  low  price  of  two  dollars  per  share ;  and 
when  these  are  disposed  of,  the  price  will  be  ad- 
vanced to  three  dollars  per  share,  when  twenty- 
five  thousand  shares  more  will  be  offered."  The 
innocent  investor  pays  his  money  and  receives 
some  finely-lithographed  certificates  of  stock,  duly 
signed  by  the  officers  of  the  company.  A  few 
months  pass  away,  and  nothing  is  heard  from  the 
mine.  Finally  the  investor  writes  to  the  secretary 
of  the  company  for  information,  and  is  told  that 
"sufficient  stock  not  having  been  sold  to  erect  a 
mill,"  work  is  not  progressing  at  the  mine.  "But 
as  soon  as  the  mill  is  erected,"  dividends  will  soon 
be  forthcoming.  A  few  months  more  elapse,  in 
which  nothing  is  heard  from  the  mine,  when  the 
investor  writes  to  some  reliable  mining  journal, 
and  is  told  that  the  mine  is  a  " Wild-Cat;"  that 
there  is  such  a  hole  in  the  ground  in  some  mining 
region;  but  there  is  nothing  in  it,  and  that  the 
officers  are  unknown  and  irresponsible  persons ; 
that  his  stock  is  worthless ;  the  officers  having 
pocketed  the  money.  Investors  should  buy  no 
shares  in  mines  not  well  known,  of  whom  the  offi- 
cers are  strangers,  without  the  advice  of  profes- 
sional mining  men  or  experts,  whom  they  do  know 
to  be  reliable,  and  who  can  recommend  the  prop- 
erty. Even  then  it  may  be  difficult  to  always 
avoid  wild  cats. 


CHEAP  PROSPECT  HOLES.  ,.g 

Tunnel  Schemes. 

Another  species  of  "feline"  is  in  the  well-ad- 
vertised shares  of  tunnels  to  pierce  a  "well-known 
mineral  belt."  A  tunnel  is  started  in  some  mining 
region,  in  which  the  mines  are  well  known  to  the 
public;  such  as  the  Black  Hills,  Nevada,  or  the 
San  Juan  region,  Colorado;  and  it  is  stocked  and 
the  shares  offered  for  sale.  The  tunnel  is  adver- 
tised as  sure  to  pierce  a  mineral  vein  "well  known 
to  exist  as  a  continuation"  of  some  valuable  lode, 
at  a  certain  distance  in,  and  accordingly  a  few 
thousand  shares  are  disposed  of,  the  money  ex- 
pended in  driving  the  tunnel  and  in  paying  the 
salaries  of  officers.  No  mineral  is  found,  and  the 
stock  becomes  worthless. 

Moral :  There  is  no  safety  in  investing  in  a  tun- 
nel or  mine  in  which  there  exists  no  paying  mineral 
when  the  investment  is  made.  Mining  stocks  have 
been  advertised  and  sold,  of  which  no  such  mine 
as  represented  could  afterward  be  found,  and  no 
bona-jide  officers  of  the  names  given  on  the  certifi- 
cates. It  is  a  very  common  scheme  to  buy  up 
cheap  prospect-holes,  in  which  there  is  no  mineral 
of  consequence,  take  them  East  and  stock  them 
at  a  million,  and  offer  the  stock  upon  the  market. 
Hundreds  of  mines  are  stocked  in  New  York, 
which,  it  has  been  reported,  cost  the  promoters  one 
or  two  hundred  thousand  each,  for  which  they  ac- 
tually paid  but  from  ten  to  twenty  thousand  for, 
and  which  were  stocked  at  a  million,  and  the  stock 


450  BIG  PROFITS. 

disposed  of  at  a  round  price.  The  profits  to  such 
schemers,  when  successful,  are  immense.  For  in- 
stance, a  mine  purchased  for  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  is  stocked  with  one  hundred  thousand 
shares,  at  the  par  value  of  ten  dollars  each,  or  a 
capital  stock  of  one  million.  The  mine  may  pos- 
sibly prove  good. 

Twenty-five  thousand  shares  are  offered 
at  two  dollars  per  share,  and  are  all 
taken, $50,000 

Twenty-five  thousand  shares  more  are 
offered  at  five  dollars,  and  sold  (which 
is  not  an  unusual  case  when  the  mine 
shows  up  ordinarily  good),  .         .    125,000 


Total  receipts  for  half  the  mine,       .  $175,000 
Deduct  cost,    .....      25,000 


$150,000 


Profits  from  sale  of  half  the  mine  are  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand,  and  the  promoters  have 
still  half  the  stock  left.  This  is  but  a  fair  showing 
of  the  manner  in  which  many  mines  are  stocked, 
and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  investor  in  stocks  has 
to  pay  frequently  many  times  what  the  mine  cost,  or 
is  really  worth,  and  always  pays  the  promoter  too 
high  a  profit  on  his  investment. 

A  very  common  way  of  deceiving  stockholders 


FALSE  REPORTS.  *r  l 

into  purchasing-  stocks  at  greatly  inflated  prices  is 
through  hired  or  bribed  experts  or  engineers,  -who, 
for  a  large  consideration,  are  procured  to  examine 
and  report  upon  the  property,  and  who  represent 
to  the  public  that  there  are  4< millions  in  sight"  in 
the  mine;  giving  to  the  property  a  fictitious  value, 
and  a  consequent  inflated  price  to  the  stock. 

There  seems  to  be  no  manner  in  which  the  "in- 
siders" or  the  "management,"  who  are  the  officers 
of  mining  companies,  can  be  prevented  from  ma- 
nipulating or  controlling  the  prices  of  mining 
stocks,  if  they  are  so  disposed.  The  profits  from 
investments  in  stocks  are,  therefore,  very  uncer- 
tain, and  while  there  are  many  honestly,  well-man- 
aged, and  well-officered  mines,  which  offer  as  safe 
investment  as  any  other  business,  there  seems  to 
be  no  rule  to  give  the  inexperienced  whereby  they 
may  invest  with  safety,  except  to  keep  out  alto- 
gether, unless  they  seek  a  controlling  interest  or 
have  trusted  friends  who  control  the  corporations 
in  which  they  invest.  To  the  experienced  oper- 
ator in  stocks  we  need  give  no  advice.  It  is  his 
profession,  into  which  he  has  been  educated  by 
long  experience,  and  he  can  readily  judge  for 
himself. 

With  the  explanation  of  one  more  trick  of  sharp 
mining  men  we  conclude  this  chapter.  In  a  few 
words,  it  is  salting  a  mine  with  good  ore,  or  silver 
filings,  to  effect  a  sale  of  the  property.  We  quote 
from  the  San  Francisco  Stock  Report  a.  graphic  de- 


*r2  SALTED  MINES. 

scription  of  a  salted  mine  on  the  Comstock  Lode, 
in  the  olden  time : 

Salting  a  Mine. 

"We  hear  of  wild-cats  now,  but  1863-64  was 
the  time  for  wild-cat  mines.  Most  of  the  so-called 
wild-cats  of  to-day  are  prospecting  propositions, 
honestly  striving  to  develop  a  paying  property, 
and  having  location  or  indications  to  justify  an  ex- 
penditure of  stockholders'  money  in  seeking  for 
bonanzas.  In  those  days  a  wild-cat  was  a  clear 
case  of  "  salt/'  and  thousands  of  confiding  people 
parted  with  their  money  for  shares  in  salted  claims 
boomed  up  to  high  figures  on  the  strength  of  high 
assays.  There  was  one  claim,  called  the  North 
Ophir.  It  was  north  of  the  Ophir,  it  is  true,  but  a 
long  way  north ;  and  the  mere  fact  that,  being  so 
far  removed  from  the  famous  Ophir  mine,  it  was 
called  North  Ophir,  was  in  itself  a  suspicious  cir- 
cumstance. As  a  mine  the  North  Ophir  was  not 
worth  three  cents  a  mile,  but  as  a  speculation  it 
was  a  success — to  the  insiders.  Some  bad,  un- 
scrupulous man  stole  into  the  North  Ophir  shaft 
one  night,  and  poured  a  lot  of  melted  silver  and 
silver  filings  liberally  into  the  seams  and  cracks  in 
the  ledge,  where  it  was  exposed  in  the  bottom  of 
the  shaft,  and  rubbed  it  into  the  rock  at  the  bot- 
tom and  sides.  A  few  days  afterward  a  party  of 
experts  were  invited  to  visit  the  mine.  They  went 
to  it,  entered  the  shaft,  examined  the  ledge,  which 


A  B  UBBL E  B  URSTS.  a  r  >> 

was  in  reality  as  barren  as  a  mule,  and  took 
samples  of  rock  for  assay.  The  assays  panned 
out  big ;  the  experts  posted  their  friends ;  there 
was  a  rush  for  the  stock,  an  excitement,  and  in  a 
few  hours  North  Ophir  bounded  from  three  to 
thirty  dollars  a  share,  and  hard  to  get  at  that. 
There  promised  to  be  a  North  Ophir  boom,  and 
mining  people  were  talking  of  North  Ophir  mount- 
ing away  up  into  the  thousands.  But  an  unfortu- 
nate circumstance  (for  the  North  Ophir  people) 
pricked  the  bubble.  One  of  the  experts,  who  had 
taken  samples  from  the  shaft,  examined  one  of  the 
pieces  of  the  ore.  Behold,  there  was  the  tip  of  the 
wing  of  the  American  eagle,  as  represented  on  the 
American  half-dollar,  impressed  on  the  rock.  A 
closer  examination  gave  convincing  proof  that  the 
rock  was  salted.  The  expert  did  not  keep  the 
news  to  himself.  The  science  of  shorting  mining 
stock  had  not  then  been  developed — though  we 
believe  Jack  McKenty,  or  some  equally  cute  indi- 
vidual, did  sell  a  few  shares,  "to  arrive" — and 
North  Ophir,  which  had  gone  up  like  a  rocket, 
came  down  like  a  stick  as  soon  as  the  news  got 
out  that  the  mine  was  salted.  The  stock  sold  in 
the  morning  for  thirty  dollars  a  share  ;  that  night 
you  could  buy  the  stock  in  big  blocks  at  two  dol- 
lars a  cord." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

HISTORY  OF  A  FEW  MINING  MILLIONAIRES  :  MEN  WHO  MADE  THEIR 
FORTUNES  IN  MINES — LIFE  OF  LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR  H.  A.  W.  TABOR, 
OF  COLORADO;  EX-UNITED-STATES-SENATOR  JEROME  B.  CHAFFEE,  OF 
COLORADO;  GEORGE  H.  FRYER,  ESQ.,  OF  COLORADO;  ARCHIE  BOR- 
LAND, ESQ.,  THE  OWNER  OF  SOME  BLACK  HILLS  BONANZAS;  JOHN  W. 
MACKAY,  OF  CALIFORNIA;  JAMES  C.  FLOOD,  ESQ.,  OF  CALIFORNIA; 
JAMES  G.  FAIR,  OF  NEVADA  ;  UNITED  STATES  SENATOR  WILLIAM 
SHARON,  OF  CALIFORNIA — SANDY  BOWERS,  A  COMSTOCK  CHARACTER 
SKETCH. 

Governor  H.  A.  W.  Tabor. 

HON.  H.  A.  W.  TABOR,  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor of  Colorado,  possesses  one  of  the 
most  suddenly-acquired  fortunes  of  any 
man  in  the  United  States.  A  little  over  three 
years  ago  Mr.  Tabor  was  the  proprietor  of  a  small 
grocery  store  at  Fairplay,  Colorado,  and  being 
unostentatious  and  closely  attentive  to  business, 
remaining  at  his  desk  and  always  at  home,  he  was 
not  known  outside  of  his  circle  of  business  ac- 
quaintances. Little  is  known  of  his  early  history, 
or  from  whence  he  came,  until  we  find  him  in 
California  Gulch,  in  the  little  town  of  Oro,  in  i860, 
where  he  lived  with  his  family  and  kept  a  small 
store  for  several  years.  It  is  said  that  his  wife 
was  the  first  woman  who  entered  California  Gulch. 
After  the  placers  of  the  gulch  began  to  be  worked 
out,  and  the  population  began  to  scatter,  we  be- 

454 


GOVERNOR  TABOR'S  STRIKE. 


455 


lieve  he  removed  to  Fairplay,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  business  until  1877,  not,  however,  being 
blessed  with  more  than  moderate  means  at  this 
time.  The  first  intimation  of  carbonate  discov- 
eries in  California  Gulch  drew  him  to  Leadville, 
and  in  July,  1877,  he  established  the  second  store 
erected  on  the  site  of  Leadville.  In  May,  1878, 
August  Rische  and  George  T.  Hook  began  to 
sink  a  shaft  north  of  Stray  Horse  Gulch,  near 
Leadville,  at  a  place  since  known  as  Fryer  Hill. 
They  had  no  money  to  obtain  supplies  or  tools  for 
prospecting,  and  Mr.  Tabor  furnished  them  from 
his  store  what  they  needed,  they  agreeing  to  give 
him  a  one-third  interest  in  whatever  they  might 
discover.  It  cost  him  about  seventeen  dollars  to 
outfit  the  party  to  commence  work. 

It  happened  that  the  ore  strata  was  unusually 
near  the  surface  at  that  point,  and  that  Rische  and 
Hook  reached  it  in  a  very  few  days.  The  first 
wagon  load  of  ore  netted  the  owners  two  or  three 
hundred  dollars,  and  as  they  drifted  on  the  ore 
strata  it  grew  larger,  until  it  was  several  feet  thick, 
and  the  owners  had  "struck"  a  fortune.  The  lo- 
cation was  called  the  Little  Pittsburg.  A  force  of 
men  was  put  on  the  mine  in  June,  and  it  was  soon 
yielding  seventy-five  tons  of  ore  per  week,  which 
milled  from  ninety  to  over  two  hundred  ounces  of 
silver  per  ton.  The  Little  Pittsburg  was,  there- 
fore, paying  thousands  of  dollars  per  week  in 
profits  in  August  and  September.  In  September 
28 


456 


A   GOOD  INCOME. 


Tabor  and  Rische  bought  out  the  one-third  inter- 
est of  Hook,  paying  him  ninety-eight  thousand 
dollars  in  cash,  mostly  from  profits  which  they  had 
already  received  from  the  mine.  The  buyers 
cleared  the  purchase-money  in  three  weeks  there- 
after. By  the  first  of  November  the  receipts  from 
the  sale  of  ore  had  reached  the  sum  total  of  three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars,  all  in 
a  few  short  months,  and  the  fame  of  the  Little 
Pittsburg  was  about  to  make  Tabor  lieutenant- 
governor  of  the  State.  Everything  that  Mr.  Tabor 
turned  his  hand  to  thereafter  seemed  to  prosper. 
Beginning  with  his  investment  in  Little  Pittsburg, 
he  kept  making  investments  in  other  mines  and 
real  estate  in  Leadville,  and  kept  adding  to  his 
wealth  until  he  is  the  richest  man  in  the  State. 
There  is  no  telling  what  he  is  worth;  the  figure 
can  be  placed  at  ten  millions,  and  then  it  will  not 
be  too  high.  All  this  wealth  acquired  within  the 
short  period  of  three  years !  His  income  from  the 
numerous  mines  in  which  he  is  interested  at  Lead- 
ville and  elsewhere  cannot  be  less  than  five  thou- 
sand dollars  per  day,  and  the  mines  are  constantly 
growing  more  productive  and  their  value  increas- 
ing every  day.  Mr.  Tabor  sold  his  interest  in 
the  Little  Pittsburg  property,  realizing  therefrom 
something  like  one  million  three  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  But  before  parting  with  it  he  had 
taken  out  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  He 
has  purchased  property  all  over  the  State  of  Colo- 


WEALTH  WELL   USED.  *rj 

rado,  and  it  is  said  was  offered  a  million  and  a 
half  for  his  interest  in  the  Chrysolite,  at  Leadville. 
His  mines  in  the  San  Juan  country  are  reported 
to  be  developing  very  rich. 

Mr.  Tabor  divides  his  time  about  equally  be- 
tween Denver,  where  he  lives  and  owns  a  splendid 
residence,  and  Leadville  and  the  eastern  cities. 
He  is  now  owner  of  a  great  amount  of  property 
and  real  estate  in  Denver  and  other  places.  It  is 
said  that  he  recently  purchased  the  whole  of  South 
Chicago,  paying  a  round  million  for  it.  He  is  the 
largest  holder,  with  one  exception,  in  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Denver,  and  owns  large  quanti- 
ties of  real  estate  in  that  city.  The  Tabor  Block, 
opposite  the  First  National  Bank  of  Denver,  is 
one  of  the  finest  business  buildings  in  the  West. 
In  Leadville  Mr.  Tabor  owns  much  valuable  prop- 
erty outside  of  the  mines.  The  New  Opera 
House,  in  that  city,  was  put  up  by  him,  and  it  is  a 
structure  which  would  do  credit  to  any  city.  Mr. 
Tabor  has  proved  to  be  a  public-spirited  citizen, 
and  to  be  generous  and  ever  disposed  to  relieve 
the  distress  of  the  poor.  Personally,  Mr.  Tabor 
is  a  rare  good  fellow.  Never  did  Dame  Fortune 
bestow  her  favors  upon  one  who  accepts  them 
with  less  ostentation  and  parade  than  does  Mr. 
Tabor.  He  is  popular  everywhere,  and  his  wealth 
has  only  added  to  his  worth,  in  that  it  has  given 
the  public  a  greater  opportunity  than  heretofore 
to  know  and  appreciate  him. 


458 


SENATOR   CHAFFEE'S  SUCCESS. 


Jerome  B.  Chaffee. 

Senator  Jerome  B.  Chaffee,  of  Colorado,  was 
born  in  Niagara  County,  New  York,  April  1 7th, 
1825.  He  had  an  academic  education,  and  when 
quite  young  removed  West,  locating  in  Michigan, 
and  afterward  removing  to  St.  Joseph,  Missouri, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  the  business  of  banking. 
In  1857  he  organized  the  Elmwood  Town  Com- 
pany, in  Kansas,  and  became  its  secretary  and 
manager.  He  went  to  Colorado  in  the  spring  of 
i860,  and  went  at  once  to  what  is  now  Gilpin 
County,  and  entered  upon  the  work  of  developing 
some  prominent  gold  lodes  which  he  had  secured. 
In  company  with  Mr.  Ebin  Smith,  a  skillful  mining 
expert  and  manager,  he  erected  the  Smith  & 
Chaffee  stamp-mill.  This  enterprise  proving  suc- 
cessful, did  much  to  revive  the  drooping  courage 
of  the  miners  in  the  vicinity,  and  gave  an  impetus 
to  the  mining  industries  of  Gilpin  County. 

In  1863  he  sold  his  interest  in  the  lode  he  was 
then  working,  but  subsequently  re-purchased  it, 
and  consolidated  it  with  other  mines,  the  whole 
constituting  what  has  since  been  the  famous  Bob- 
tail Mine  and  Tunnel ;  its  name  being  derived 
from  the  fact  that  a  bobtailed  ox,  harnessed  to  a 
drag,  consisting  of  a  raw-hide  stretched  across  a 
forked  stick,  was  used  for  hauling  the  pay-dirt 
from  the  mine  to  the  gulch  for  sluicing. 

In  1869,  a  consolidation  of  various  interests  on 
the  lode  was  effected  by  Mr.  Chaffee,  who  became 


BIG  TRANSACTIONS.  ,,-q 

the  heaviest  stockholder  in  the  Bobtail  company, 
which  was  the  best  known  and  most  prosperous 
mining  company  for  a  time  in  Colorado,  producing 
annually  from  three  hundred  thousand  to  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  gold.  In  1876,  Mr. 
Chaffee  was  elected  a  United  States  Senator  by 
the  first  Legislature  which  convened  after  Colo- 
rado was  admitted  as  a  State. 

1  In  the  summer  of  1878,  Mr.  Chaffee  went  to 
Leadville,  and  made  some  investments  there. 
George  H.  Fryer,  in  company  with  a  man  named 
Borden,  owned  the  "New  Discovery"  mine,  on 
Fryer  Hill.  Senator  Chaffee  bought  Fryer's  in- 
terest for  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Before  Chaffee 
left  the  camp,  H.  A.  W.  Tabor  and  August  Rische, 
who  then  owned  the  adjoining  claim — Little  Pitts- 
burg— fearing  that  the  older  title  of  the  "New 
Discovery"  claim  might  imperil  their  claim,  took 
it  off  his  hands  at  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars,  thereby  giving  him  a  profit  of 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  on  a  few  days'  in- 
vestment. Subsequently  Chaffee,  in  company 
with  others,  bought  August  Rische's  entire  inter- 
est in  the  "Little  Pittsburg"  and  "New  Discovery" 
mines  for  two  hundred  and  sixty-two  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars,  and  thus  became  half  owners 
in  these  claims  with  Tabor.  On  the  18th  of  No- 
vember these  parties  organized  the  Little  Pittsburg 
Consolidated  Mining  Company,  which  was  a  con- 
solidation of  the  New  Discovery,  Little  Pittsburg, 


460 


GEORGE  H.  FRYER'S  CAREER. 


Dives  and  Winnemuc.  In  the  next  five  months 
the  actual  yield  of  ore  from  the  consolidated  mines, 
at  the  sold  or  assay  value,  was  nearly  a  million  of 
dollars,  and  the  profits  in  the  great  rise  of  stocks 
to  the  promoters  were  enormous.  Senator  Chaf- 
fee probably  realized,  as  his  share  of  the  profits, 
not  less  than  two  millions  from  this  transaction. 

Senator  Chaffee  has  probably  made  larger  in- 
vestments in  mining  operations  than  any  other 
man  in  Colorado.  He  owns,  it  is  said,  about  a 
hundred  gold  and  silver  lodes,  in  various  stages 
of  development,  among  which  is  the  well-known 
Carribou  silver  mine,  in  Boulder  County,  besides 
other  interests  in  Leadville  and  in  the  Little 
Pittsburg. 

George  H.  Fryer. 

George  H.  Fryer,  from  whom  the  now  famous 
Fryer  Hill  of  Leadville  takes  its  name,  was  born 
in  Philadelphia,  September  4th,  1836.  He  re- 
ceived his  education  in  that  city,  graduating  at  the 
public  High  School;  after  which  he  accepted  a 
clerkship  in  a  Philadelphia  silk  house  for  about 
four  years.  In  1857  he  started  West,  first  locating 
at  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  where  he  was  engaged 
in  the  real  estate  business  up  to  186 1.  In  the 
spring  of  that  year  he  went  to  Denver,  and  soon 
after  went  to  Summit  County,  and  during  the  fol- 
lowing summer  engaged  in  placer  mining  with 
moderate  success.  The  following  autumn  he  went 
to  the  Montgomery  mining  district,  where  he  was 


HUMILITY  IN  PROSPERITY. 


461 


elected  mining  recorder,  and  continued  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  that  office  until  the  winter  of 
1862,  when  the  Legislature  abolished  the  office. 

Mr.  Fryer  was  engaged  in  mining  up  to  1864, 
when  he  returned  to  Philadelphia  and  made  a  sale 
of  some  mining  property,  realizing  therefrom  a 
small  fortune.  He  remained  in  the  East  but  a 
short  time,  but  returned  to  Colorado,  and  has 
since  been  actively  engaged  in  mining.  On  the 
4th  of  April,  1878,  he  struck  ore  in  the  "New  Dis- 
covery," now  a  part  of  the  Little  Pittsburg  Con- 
solidation, at  Leadville.  The  hill  took  the  name 
of  Fryer  Hill,  and  as  long  as  the  mountain  re- 
mains it  is  probable  that  the  name  of  George  H. 
Fryer  will  not  be  forgotten.  Fryer  soon  sold  his 
interest  in  this  wonderful  mine  to  Chaffee  for  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  and  soon  afterward  bought  back 
one  thousand  shares  of  the  stock  of  the  Consoli- 
dated Little  Pittsburg  Company,  at  the  rate  of 
something  like  four  million  dollars  for  his  mine, 
and  got  a  good  bargain  then,  from  which  he  sub- 
sequently received  large  profits. 

Mr.  Fryer  is  now  very  largely  engaged  in  min- 
ing, having  interests  in  a  large  number  of  Lead- 
ville bonanzas,  from  which  he  receives  a  daily 
income  amounting  to  a  small  fortune.  But  he  is 
the  same  man  to-day  that  he  was  before  striking 
his  bonanzas.  He  is  not  purse-proud,  and  he 
gives  liberally  of  his  means  to  all  public  and  chari- 
table institutions.     He  is,  indeed,  the  poor  man's 


462 


ARCHIE  BORLAND'S  SUCCESS. 


friend.  Mr.  Fryer  is  highly  esteemed  as  a  citizen, 
having  hosts  of  warm  friends,  and  is  popularly 
spoken  of  by  his  party  (Democratic)  as  a  candi- 
date for  Congress  at  the  next  election,  which  is 
indicative  of  the  high  regard  with  which  he  is  held. 
He  lives  in  the  city  of  Denver. 

Archie  Borland,  the  Owner  of  some  Black  Hills  Bonanzas— His 
Early  Career  and  Good  Luck. 

There  are  few  men  on  the  Pacific  Slope  better 
known  in  mining  circles  than  Archie  Borland. 
Mr.  Borland  came  from  Ireland  a  mere  boy,  with 
all  his  capital  invested  in  good  muscle  and  a  clear 
head.  He  settled  down  on  a  farm  in  a  small 
place  a  few  miles  below  Albany,  New  York,  and 
worked  away  until  the  mining  fever  swept  over 
the  land  in  1849.  The  epidemic  soon  made  its 
way  up  the  Hudson,  and  he  was  among  its  first 
victims.  He  heard  of  the  wealth  that  was  being 
picked  up  loose  all  over  the  soil  of  California,  and 
desired  to  do  some  of  the  picking  himself.  But  it 
was  a  long  journey  to  California — much  longer 
than  now,  and  took  a  great  deal  of  money  to  get 
there.  Not  prepared  to  start  at  once,  he  imme- 
diately began  to  save  up  his  earnings,  with  the 
hope  of  gathering  enough  in  a  short  time  to  pay 
his  passage-money.  Ten  dollars  a  month  was 
good  wages  on  a  farm  in  those  days,  and  men  sel- 
dom received  over  twelve,  so  that  saving  was  slow 
work.     It  was  not  till  early  in  1852  that  he  was 


ADVANCING  BY  WORK. 


463 


ready  to  start,  and  he  took  passage  in  one  of  the 
steamships  that  were  running  to  California,  and 
landed  without  accident  in  San  Francisco. 

"I  made  up  my  mind  to  two  things  at  the  start," 
said  he ;  "not  to  work  for  wages  any  longer  than 
I  could  help,  but  to  go  in  for  myself;  and  then, 
never  to  take  a  partner."  This  plan  served  him 
well. 

With  nothing  but  a  frying-pan,  tincup,  pick  and 
necessary  tools,  with  a  small  supply  of  provisions, 
he  went,  upon  reaching  California,  into  Nevada 
County,  and  began  work  in  the  mines  at  four  dol- 
lars per  day.  Working  there,  often  in  water  up 
to  his  waist,  at  the  hardest  kind  of  labor,  with  the 
plainest  of  food  of  his  own  cooking,  he  carefully 
laid  by  the  greater  part  of  his  wages,  intending 
some  day  to  own  the  mine  he  was  working.  But 
the  mines  did  not  prove  profitable  enough,  and  as 
long  as  he  received  his  four  dollars  a  day  he  kept 
to  work,  not  deeming  it  a  profitable  investment. 
After  some  months'  labor  he  went  to  Grass  Valley 
district.  Here  he  was  able,  in  a  short  time,  to 
buy,  in  a  small  way,  into  some  claims,  and  made 
some  money. 

For  several  years  he  continued  at  this,  growing 
a  little  richer  every  year  till  1858,  when  the  Fra- 
zier  River  excitement  began.  Parties  of  miners 
were  going  there  every  day,  and  wild  rumors  of 
their  tremendous  success  came  back.  The  ground 
was  believed  to  be  covered  with  gold,  and  Mr. 


464 


STICKING  A  T  IT. 


Borland  caught  the  fever  with  the  rest,  and  sold 
out  in  Grass  Valley  and  went.  The  steamer  on 
which  he  took  passage  made  her  way  several  hun- 
dred miles  up  the  river,  and  the  men  got  ready  to 
pick  up  a  little  of  the  loose  gold.  But  there  was 
little  or  none  to  pick  up.  The  expedition  proved 
a  disastrous  failure,  and  the  young  miner  soon 
found  that  he  had  sold  out  a  good  thing  to  take 
his  chances  in  a  sinking  ship. 

Reaching  Grass  Valley  again  in  1859,  with  just 
money  enough  left  to  buy, a  small  interest  in  the 
old  mines,  he  set  about  retrieving  his  fortune. 
One  of  his  speculations,  after  getting  a  little  on 
his  feet  again,  was  the  buying  of  the  Rock  Tun- 
nel, which  had  been  opened  two  thousand  eight 
hundred  feet.  In  1863,  some  speculations  went 
wrong ;  a  vein  was  not  as  wide  or  as  valuable  as 
expected,  and  what  money  Archie  Borland  had 
saved  disappeared  like  snow  in  the  sun.  Every- 
thing went  with  a  crash,  and  after  eleven  years  of 
hard  work  he  was  once  more  reduced  to  working 
for  wages.  "  The  great  thing,"  said  he,  "  was  never 
to  quit.  Stick  to  it.  Never  let  go  your  hold,  and 
you  are  bound  to  catch  something." 

With  precious  few  dollars  left  to  operate  with, 
he  bought  a  mule,  and  once  more  wore  a  tincup 
in  his  belt  and  a  frying-pan  strapped  to  his  blan- 
kets. With  a  small  party  of  men,  bound  upon  the 
same  errand,  he  mounted  his  mule  and  started 
across  the  hills  for  Idaho.     They  had   eighteen 


A  PERILOUS  J  OUR  KEY.  ,55 

mules  in  the  party,  packed  with  provisions.  There 
was  not  a  house  on  the  way,  and  he  rode  that 
mule  nine  hundred  miles,  going  from  one  mining 
camp  to  another,  but  always  in  the  direction  of 
Idaho.  After  a  long  and  painful  journey  he 
reached  Idaho,  and  went  to  work.  By  diligent 
labor  he  soon  owned  shares  in  some  of  the  mines 
there.  By  1866  he  had  accumulated  fifteen  thou- 
sand dollars,  which  he  had  not  in  checks,  or  drafts, 
or  bits  of  paper,  but  in  gold  dust,  done  up  in 
bags.  With  his  stock  of  gold  dust,  Mr.  Borland 
determined  to  return  to  California,  which  he  con- 
sidered his  proper  field,  although  he  had  prospered 
in  Idaho.  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.  had  then  an  estab- 
lished express  line  into  Idaho,  and  he  went  to  them 
to  learn  what  it  would  cost  to  transport  his  dust 
to  San  Francisco.  He  was  told  one  dollar  and 
twenty-five  cents  for  every  one  hundred  dollars* 
worth,  and  even  at  £hat  price  he  must  run  his  own 
risk.  He  thought,  however,  that  if  he  had  to  run 
his  own  risk  he  might  as  well  save  the  express 
charges,  and  transport  it  himself,  for  he  knew  that 
in  such  a  case  nobody  would  get  his  gold  without 
fighting  for  it.  The  road  at  that  time  was  infested 
with  "road  agents,"  and  the  journey  was  a  danger- 
ous one.  But  he  bought  some  mules,  a  big  navy 
revolver  and  a  supply  of  provisions,  and  started. 
It  was  along  and  lonely  journey.  But  after  six 
nights  of  hard  riding  he  landed  his  gold  dust  safely 
in  San  Francisco.     Then  he  bought  into  Comstock 


466 


GOOD  DIVIDENDS. 


and  other  mines,  and  made  money  rapidly.  There 
were  no  mining  stocks  in  those  days,  but  a  "foot" 
of  surface  in  length  on  the  vein  was  the  equivalent 
of  a  share  of  stock.  One  of  his  first  successful 
speculations  on  a  large  scale  was  in  the  Savage 
mine.  In  July,  1866,  he  bought  five  feet  of  the 
Savage,  at  one  thousand  one  hundred  dollars  per 
foot.  During  the  first  month  that  he  owned  it  he 
drew  fifty  dollars  per  foot  dividend.  The  second 
month  the  dividend  rose  to  seventy-five  dollars ; 
then  it  took  another  rise,  and  reached  one  hundred 
dollars  a  foot  dividend  every  month.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year,  1867,  the  value  went  up  tremend- 
ously. Early  in  the  year  it  was  worth  two  thou- 
sand dollars  a  foot,  and  from  this  it  rose  steadily 
to  two  thousand  five  hundred,  three  thousand,  four 
thousand,  and  five  thousand  dollars  a  foot.  At 
this  price  he  sold  his  five  feet  for  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars;  having  received  more  than  his 
original  investment  in  monthly  dividends  before 
selling.  Other  stocks  that  he  had  went  up,  and 
his  fortune  gradually  increased,  until  from  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars  it  went  gradually  to  fifty 
thousand,  seventy-five  thousand,  and  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  In  1869,  he  bought  largely  in 
the  Comstock  mines,  and  up  to  1872  he  had  no 
competitor  in  his  gigantic  operations.  Then  Jones 
and  Hey  ward  came  up,  and,  as  he  says,  he  had  to 
keep  his  eyes  open  from  that  time  on,  "for  I  had 
to  compete  against  men  with  millions,"  he  said, 


VENTURES  THAT  PAID. 


467 


"and  who  knew  how  to  use  them.  I  went  into 
Crown  Point  shares,  and  got  singed.  But  that 
was  nothing;  there's  ups  and  downs  in  any  busi- 
ness." At  one  time  his  dividends  from  California 
and  Consolidated  Virginia  amounted  to  forty 
thousand  dollars  a  month. 

"The  best  winning  speculations  I  ever  made," 
he  said,  "were  from  1872  to  1874.  I  made  a  heap 
of  money  in  that  time,  and  I  needed  it  to  carry  me 
through  my  worst  losses  in  1878.  But  I  got 
through,  and  am  still  afloat.  In  1872  I  bought  five 
hundred  shares  of  'Central'  for  less  than  five 
thousand  dollars.  This  mine  was  soon  afterward 
cut  up  and  consolidated  with  California,  and  the 
redistribution  gave  me  one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  fifty  shares.  I  never  paid  an  assessment  on 
it,  for  none  were  called,  and  in  a  short  time  the 
stock  went  up  to  seven  hundred  and  forty  dollars 
a  share,  when  I  sold.  That  paid  pretty  well.  I 
paid  five  thousand  dollars,  and  sold  for  nine  hun- 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  That 
left  me  a  profit  of  nine  hundred  and  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars. 

"  That  was  one  of  my  best  speculations,  but  not 
quite  as  good  as  another  venture  made  about  the 
same  time.  I  bought  five  hundred  shares  of  Con- 
solidated Virginia  for  fifty  dollars  a  share,  and 
paid  two  assessments,  which  brought  its  cost  up 
to  fifty-six  dollars  per  share.  This  mine  was  also 
'cut  up*  about  this  time,   and  my  five   hundred 


468 


HE  A  VY  SHRINKAGE. 


shares  spread  out  into  two  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  shares.  I  held  this  stock  for  two 
years,  when  it  went  up  like  a  flash.  I  sold  out  in 
1874  for  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  share. 
It  cost  me  twenty-eight  thousand  dollars  for  my 
stock,  and  I  sold  it  for  two  million  twenty-six 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  One  Saturday  the 
stocks  were  selling  for  three  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  per  share;  but  I  held  on.  The  following 
Monday  it  was  five  hundred  dollars  a  share.  I 
tell  you,  it  took  a  pretty  strong  head  to  stand  that. 
I  was  getting  rich,  not  at  the  rate  of  a  million  a 
minute,  as  they  say,  but  one  hundred  thousand  a 
day  or  more  ;  but  that  was  fast  eno,ugh.  Nobody 
ever  knew  anything  about  this  till  it  was  all  over. 
I  never  told  my  wife  and  family  about  my  business 
affairs,  and  never  kept  any  books.  The  only  book 
that  I  kept  was  a  little  pass-book,  that  I  carried  in 
my  inside  coat  pocket,  with  a  record  of  what  I 
bought  and  sold,  and  the  price.  I  never  let  any 
one  see  this,  and  never  brought  it  out,  except  on 
a  Sunday  afternoon  or  when  I  was  alone.  My 
heavy  losses  in  1878  were  on  Sierra  Nevada  and 
Union.  ■  I  lost  one  million  four  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  then,  inside  of  ten  days  ;  shrunk  that  much 
in  depreciation  of  stock." 

Mr.  Borland  is  still  interested  in  a  good  many 
mines,  though  he  spends  more  time  in  his  hand- 
some residence,  in  Oakland,  California,  with  his 
family,  than  when  he  was  younger. 


ANOTHER  MINING  KING. 


John  TF.  Mackay, 


469 


the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  the  youngest  of  the 
Mackay-Flood-Fair  combination,  who  were  long- 
kings  of  the  Comstock-Lode.  He  was  born  No- 
vember 28th,  1835,  in  Dublin,  Ireland.  He  came 
to  America  a  mere  lad,  and  for  some  years  found 
employment  in  the  office  of  William  H.  Webb,  the 
famous  shipbuilder  of  New  York.  In  the  fall  of 
1852,  he  joined  a  party  bound  for  California,  and 
about  the  close  of  that  year  he  reached  his  desti- 
nation, having  made  the  passage  in  a  vessel  built 
by  his  former  employer.  Young  Mackay  imme- 
diately engaged  in  placer-mining  at  Alleghany, 
Sierra  County,  California,  where  moderate  success 
rewarded  his  efforts.  He  did  not  drift  into  min- 
ing, and  delve  among  the  rocks  and  sand,  as  a 
make-shift,  as  was  the  case  with  a  majority  of 
those  who  arrived  there  in  the  golden  age.  He 
entered  mining  as  a  profession;  he  entered  it  to 
stay,  and  he  did  stay.  He  did  not  have  luck  above 
that  of  other  men ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  had  in  his 
early  mining  career  his  full  share  of  misfortune. 
He  did  not  lose  a  fortune  in  those  early  days,  for 
the  best  of  reasons:  he  had  none  to  lose.  But 
this  fact  did  not  prevent  him  from  undergoing  the 
many  privations  incidental  to  a  miner's  life  in 
California  and  Nevada.  Fortune  smiled  slightly 
on  Mr.  Mackay  while  at  work  in  the  placers  of 
Sierra  County,  and  although  it  was  a  sickly  sort 


*jQ  GETTING  A  START 

of  a  smile,  still  he  managed  to  secure  sufficient 
money  to  proceed  to  Virginia  City,  Nevada,  and 
inaugurate  an  enterprise  of  his  own. 

In  connection  with  a  partner,  he  started  a  tun- 
nel in  what  was  then  known  as  the  Union  ground, 
north  of  the  Ophir  mine.  Here  fortune  frowned 
on  him.  His  funds  were  speedily  exhausted,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  once  more  he  started  at  the 
foot  of  the  ladder  for  a  competency.  He  made 
his  brawny  arms  earn  him  four  dollars  a  day  as  a 
timber-man,  in  the  Mexican  mine.  He  also  swung 
a  pick  and  shovel  in  some  of  the  mines  at  the  same 
wages.  His  ideas  of  wealth  were  very  moderate 
in  those  times.  There  was  no  limit  to  his  ambi- 
tion, if  we  are  to  accept  the  narratives  of  his  old 
comrades ;  but  his  chief  desire  was  to  accumulate 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  for  the  purpose  of 
assisting  his  beloved  mother  in  her  declining  years. 
This  desire  affords  a  good  index  of  the  man's 
character.  He  was  just  the  kind  of  a  man  to  ex- 
press such  a  desire.  His  fidelity  and  rugged  in- 
tegrity are  as  prominent  to-day  as  they  were  when 
he  worked  for  wages  and  earned  all  that  he  re- 
ceived. The  first  substantial  start  made  by  Mr. 
Mackay  was  in  connection  with  the  "Kentuck" 
mine,  in  Gold  Hill.  After  many  changes  of  for- 
tune, he  became  interested  with  Mr.  J.  M.  Walker, 
in  1863.  This  firm  was  enlarged  by  the  addition 
of  Messrs.  Flood  &  O'Brien,  in  1864,  and  so  con- 
tinued until  1868,  when  Mr.  Fair  took  the  place 


THE   BONANZA  COMBINATION.  ,7  j 

of  Mr.  Walker.  The  first  few  hundred  thousand 
of  the  now  stupendous  wealth  controlled  by  this 
firm  was  made  during  their  control  of  the  Hale  & 
Norcross  mine,  from  1865  to  1867.  The  career 
of  Mr.  Mackay,  since  that  time  to  the  present,  has 
been  chiefly  noticeable  for  the  active  part  he  has 
taken  in  the  incessant  and  successful  efforts  made 
by  the  partners  to  obtain  further  acquisition  of 
territory  on  the  Comstock  Lode.  Backed  by  their 
constantly-increasing  capital,  their  efforts  have  re- 
sulted in  opening  to  the  world  the  wonderful 
"Consolidated  Virginia"  and  "California,"  known 
as  the  Bonanza  Mines.  On  the  25th  of  Novem-. 
ber,  1867,  Mr.  Mackay  married  an  accomplished 
lady,  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Daniel  E.  Hunger- 
ford,  of  the  army.  They  have  two  children.  Mr. 
Mackay's  home  is  in  Virginia  City,  and  during  most 
of  the  time  since  the  discovery  of  the  bonanza 
in  the  Consolidated  Virginia  and  California  he 
has  largely  directed  the  affairs  of  the  firm,  in  which 
he  had  a  three-eighths  interest.  His  decision  of 
character,  his  shrewdness,  his  application,  and  his 
personal  popularity,  have  largely  contributed  to 
the  renowned  success  of  what  is  known  as  the  bo- 
nanza combination.  He  is  one  of  the  few  men 
whom  fortune  has  not  spoiled.  He  has  stood  the 
test  well.  His  liberality  has  again  and  again 
placed  old  friends  in  affluent  positions.  We  could 
illustrate  this  generous  nature  by  numerous  state- 
ments of  facts  which  would  surprise  the  world;  but, 
29 


a  7 2  NOT  L  UCA\  BUT  LO OKTNG. 

in  deference  to  Mr.  Mackay's  feelings,  and  with 
due  regard  for  the  proprieties,  we  abstain  from 
giving  details. 

Whether  at  his*  mansion  in  Paris,  or  in  the  drip- 
ping depths  of  the  mines,  he  is  the  same  quiet, 
manly,  unostentatious  John  Mackay.  For  some 
time  Mrs.  Mackay  has  resided  at  the  French  capi- 
tal, where  the  children  are  being  educated,  and 
where,  it  will  be  remembered,  she  entertained  the 
late  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  United  States,  Gen- 
eral Grant,  in  princely  style. 

We  cannot  dismiss  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
without  saying  a  word  as  to  the  manner  of  the 
discovery  of  the  great  bonanza.  It  is  a  common 
idea  that  the  bonanza  discovery  was  simply  a  piece 
of  luck;  such  luck  as  might  befall  any  miner. 
The  circumstances  that  preceded  this  discovery 
are  overshadowed  by  the  importance  of  the  find 
itself.  Few  people  realize  the  difficulties  attend- 
ing the  search  for  this  marvelous  body  of  ore. 
When  Mr.  Mackay  and  his  associates  inaugurated 
their  search  for  the  bonanza,  the  ground  involved 
in  their  prospecting  operations  had  been  aban- 
doned by  Sharon  and  other  large  operators.  Mr. 
Mackay  did  not  begin  work  with  the  definite 
knowledge  that  he  was  bound  for  .a  bonanza, 
but  believing  in  the  richness  of  what  is  now  the 
bonanza  territory,  Mr.  Mackay  and  his  associates 
purchased  the  controlling  interest  in  the  corpora- 
tion then  owning  the  ground,  and  began  to  hunt 


PERSISTENT  SEARCHING. 


473 


for  the  ore  body.  The  tax  upon  the  patience,  en- 
durance and  skill  of  the  firm,  as  well  as  upon  their 
purses,  can  barely  be  imagined.  They  paid  out 
not  less  than  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  to 
carry  on  this  prospecting  operation.  Prominent 
men  in  the  district,  who  had  succumbed  to  dis- 
couragements, looked  with  disfavor  on  the  work 
being  done  by  Mr.  Mackay  and  his  partners.  It 
would  not  pay  the  trouble  and  expense,  they  said. 
But  Mr.  Mackay  continued  his  work.  That  fa- 
mous drift  from  the  "Gould  and  Curry"  mine, 
through  "Best  and  Belcher"  ground,  into  the  Vir- 
ginia, was  run  over  one  thousand  two  hundred 
feet  before  it  made  the  strike  that  gave  the  bo- 
nanza to  the  world.  The  firm  were  suddenly  en- 
riched by  millions.  What  trials  and  tribulations, 
what  heart-aches,  hopes  and  fears  were  involved 
in  that  long  drift  we  may  never  know.  That  the 
work  was  under  the  best  of  management,  how- 
ever, has  always  been  an  acknowledged  fact.  The 
results  of  that  management  have  made  an  imper- 
ishable impression,  and  to  John  W.  Mackay  that 
impression  owes  its  existence :  he  led  the  forlorn 
hope.  In  closing  our  sketch  of  Mr.  Mackay,  we 
may  remark  that  he  is  of  herculean  build,  easy  of 
carriage,  and  has  a  genial  presence.  He  looks 
the  man  he  is — the  prince  of  miners  and  boss  of 
the  big  bonanza. 


a  j  a  ANOTHER  MINING  PRINCE. 


James  C.  Flood, 

another  mining  prince,  was  born  in  New  York 
City,  about  1826,  and  is  now  in  his  very  prime.  His 
early  education  was  most  practical  in  its  character. 
He  did  not  enjoy  the  benefits  of  a  collegiate 
course,  but  the  instruction  he  received  in  the  or- 
dinary English  branches  was  systematic  and  thor- 
ough. In  1849,  ne  took  passage  for  California  in 
the  ship  "Elizabeth  Ellen."  His  brains  constituted 
his  sole  capital.  In  1854,  he  associated  with  the 
late  W.  S.  O'Brien,  and  the  famed  firm  of  Flood 
&  O'Brien  was  formed.  The  first  notable  enter- 
prise engaged  in  by  the  firm  consisted  of  opera- 
tions in  the  "Kenttick,"  and  other  mines  on  the 
Comstock,  in  which  they  generally  contrived  to 
secure  a  controlling  interest.  This  was  as  early 
as  1862.  Their  operations  in  the  "Hale  &  Nor- 
cross"  mine,  a  few  years  later,  was  on  a  scale  so 
large  as  to  attract  general  attention  to  them  as 
mining  speculators.  The  operation  which  finally 
made  the  name  of  this  mining  firm  known  through- 
out the  world,  was  compressed  within  the  short 
space  of  a  few  months  in  the  early  part  of  1875, 
The  existence  of  those  vast  bodies  of  ore  in  the 
"Consolidated  Virginia"  and  "California"  mines. 
on  the  Comstock  Lode,  which  Mr.  Mackay  also 
assisted  to  develop,  was  suspected  as  early  as 
February,  1874,  and  were  made  certain  by  the 
proprietors  in  December  of  that  year.     The  gen- 


THE  BONANZA  FINANCIER.  *j* 

erosity  with  which  they  dealt  with  those  who  had 
the  good  fortune  to  be  their  friends,  was  very  gen- 
erally acknowledged.  They  were  not  content  to 
see  their  fortunes  growing  with  colossal  strides 
each  hour,  but  desired  all  who  had  been  kind  to 
them  in  the  past  to  accompany  them  on  the  road 
to  prosperity.  The  establishment  of  the  Nevada 
Bank,  in  San  Francisco,  was  the  idea  of  Mr.  Flood, 
and  was  organized  by  the  firm. 

In  appearance,  Mr.  Flood  is  prepossessing, 
strong,  and  about  five  feet  ten  inches  high,  with 
robust  form.  Mr.  Flood  became  the  leading  finan- 
cier of  the  Pacific  Coast.  His  power  of  mental 
concentration,  his  quickness  of  perception  and  his 
liking  for  finance,  combined  to  make  him  the  finan- 
cier of  the  Bonanza  firm.  He  is  a  persistent  and 
intelligent  student  of  financial  history,  and  keeps 
himself  thoroughly  informed  on  the  progress  of 
finance.  Mr.  Flood  is  an  incessant  worker  during- 
business  hours.  He  is,  however,  devotedly  at- 
tached to  the  home  circle,  and  his  surroundings 
are  of  the  most  pleasant  character.  He  spends 
the  winter  months  at  his  plain  and  unostentatious 
residence  in  San  Francisco,  but  the  summer  nights 
are  passed  at  San  Mateo,  where  Mr.  Flood  has 
one  of  the  most  attractive  country  seats  on  the 
Pacific  Coast.  His  family  consists  of  a  wife,  son 
and  daughter,  the  son  being  about  twenty-two. 


476 


ANOTHER  OF  THE  FIRM. 


James  G.  Fair, 


is  also  widely  known  as  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
Bonanza  firm.  He  was  born  December  3d,  1831, 
in  Clougher,  Tyrone  County,  Ireland,  and  came  to 
this  country  in  1843.  He  attended  school  in  Ge- 
neva, Illinois,  for  several  years,  and  subsequently 
secured  a  good  business  education  in  Chicago.  In 
common  with  other  adventurous  spirits,  Mr.  Fair 
was  affected  by  the  gold  fever  in  1849,  and  in 
August  of  that  year  he  arrived  at  Long's  Bar, 
Feather  River,  California.  He  mined  on  the  bar 
for  awhile,  but  failed  to  strike  a  profitable  placer- 
mine.  It  was  natural  that  he  should  turn  his  at- 
tention to  quartz-mining.  Placer-mining  was  con- 
ducted in  a  primitive  style  in  those  days,  and  did 
not  afford  Mr.  Fair  fitting  opportunities  for  the 
exercise  of  his  peculiar  mechanical  genius.  From 
the  placer-bar  to  the  quartz-mine  was  an  easy 
transition  for  him.  We  next  hear  of  him  engaged 
in  quartz-mining  at  Angels,  Calaveras  County, 
California;  and,  at  a  later  period,  he  figured  as  the 
superintendent  of  quartz  mines  in  other  counties. 
Even  in  those  early  days  he  ranked  high  as  a  pro- 
fessional miner.  In  1855,  Mr.  Fair  assumed  the 
superintendency  of  the  Ophir  mine,  on  the  Corn- 
stock  Lode,  and  in  1857  the  Hale  &  Norcross 
mine  came  under  his  direction.  Among  mining 
men  he  soon  became  accorded  rank  as  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  mining  engineers  of  America. 


THE  BONANZA  ENGINEER.  ajj 

And  he  managed  the  mines  under  his  charge  with 
remarkable  good  judgment,  and  with  great  me- 
chanical and  engineering  skill. 

During  their  connection  with  the  Hale  and  Nor- 
cross  mine,  the  Bonanza  firm,  of  whom  Mr.  Fair 
was  now  a  member,  secured  the  first  half  million 
of  their  princely  fortune.  The  idea  then  occurred 
to  Messrs.  Flood,  Fair  &  Mackay,  of  the  firm,  to 
obtain  control  of  what  was  then  known  as  the 
"California"  and  "Sides"  mine,  and  the  White, 
Murphy,  the  Central  (Nos.  i  and  2),  and  the  tract 
known  as  the  Kinney  ground,  all  on  the  Comstock 
Lode  The  claims  were  eventually  secured,  and 
to-day  form  the  famous  "Consolidated  Virginia" 
and  California  mines.  Previous  chapters  have 
already  shown  the  immense  and  sudden  wealth 
which  afterward  poured  in  upon  the  owners  of 
these  mines.  The  life  of  Mr.  Fair,  since  this  im- 
mense wealth  of  the  great  mines  poured  into  his 
lap,  has  been  that  of  any  sagacious  capitalist  of 
large  means.  He  began  speculation  in  real  estate 
in  San  Francisco  in  1858,  and  owns  nearly  seventy 
acres-  in  different  parts  of  it.  This  property  has 
increased  in  value  until,  of  itself,  it  is  a  colossal 
fortune.  In  person,  Mr.  Fair  is  about  the  medium 
height,  strongly  built  and,  with  alert  carriage  and 
pleasant  face,  presents  an  exceptionally  striking 
appearance.  He  has  a  devoted  wife  and  four 
children.     His  home  is  in  Virginia  City,  Nevada. 


478 


AND  STILL  ANOTHER. 


Hon.  William  Sharon, 


Senator  Sharon  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  when  a 
young  man  practiced  law  in  the  State  of  Illinois. 
Manifesting  a  bent  toward  the  mercantile  business, 
in  which  a  brother  was  then  engaged,  rather  than 
to  the  profession  for  which  he  had  received  his 
education,  in  1849  he  went  overland  to  Califor- 
nia, and  at  once  conceived  the  possibilities  of 
making  a  fortune  as  an  operator  in  real  estate  in 
San  Francisco.  The  records  of  the  county  since 
1850  show  an  extent  and  magnitude  to  his  trans- 
actions unequaled  by  any  one  operator  in  the  city 
of  San  Francisco.  In  1863,  he  was  induced  to 
take  the  agency  and  general  supervision  of  the 
Bank  of  California,  in  Gold  Hill  and  in  Virginia 
City,  in  the  State  of  Nevada. 

At  about  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  his  agency 
and  management  of  these  branch  banks,  Mr.  Rals- 
ton, the  president  of  the  Bank  of  California,  paid 
him  a  visit.  This  visit  happened  at  one  of  the 
periods  of  darkness  on  the  Comstock  Lode.  This 
great  silver  and  gold-producing  belt  was  in  eclipse. 
The  ores  of  the  Virginia  City  and  Gold  Hill  mines 
had  suddenly  ceased  to  be  remunerative.  The 
mills  in  great  number  were  unsupplied  with  ore 
and  out  of  employment.  The  prospect  seemed 
very  discouraging  and  unpromising  Mines  of 
silver,  which  had  been  regarded  as  interminable 
in  their  endurance  and  extent  downwards,  to  the 


BOLD    OPERATIONS.  *jq 

consternation  of  all,  had  ceased  to  be  remuner- 
ative or  profitable  to  work.  To  the  quick  percep- 
tions of  President  Ralston  the  loans  in  large  sums 
upon  these  properties  seemed  lost,  or  nearly  so, 
and  he  became  apprehensive  that  the  credit  of  the 
"home  institution"  would  be  impaired,  and  mani- 
fested the  most  decided  uneasiness  at  the  situ- 
ation. The  prospect  of  recovering  the  money 
struck  Ralston  on  the  cold  side,  and  in  his  impetu- 
ous way,  said  to  Mr.  Sharon  that  he  would  feel 
the  greatest  relief  if  he  could  find  a  person  who 
would  assume  the  responsibility  of  returning  the 
large  sums  loaned,  upon  a  most  liberal  allowance 
of  time. 

Mr.  Sharon  at  once  proposed  to  stand  respon- 
sible to  the  bank  for  the  full  sum,  on  condition 
that  the  bank  advance  him  a  considerable  sum, 
which  should  be  used  in  running  certain  drifts  in 
the  mines  contemplated  by  him,  and  give  him  two 
years  to  make  the  total  payments.  Mr.  Ralston 
preferring  to  look  to  Mr.  Sharon  rather  than  the 
properties  acquired,  and  to  the  securities  held  by 
the  bank,  entered  into  an  agreement  upon  the 
terms  proposed. 

Mr.  Sharon  here  manifested  something  of  the 
spirit  of  reliance,  will-force  and  sagacity  which 
subsequently  distinguished  him  as  a  man  of  mark. 
He  had  examined,  with  the  greatest  care,  every 
mine,  in  every  part,  and  had  become  the  mining 
expert  as  well  as  the  banker.     He  had  called  to 


aOq  good  times  again. 

his  aid,  however,  the  best  judgment  of  men  ex« 
perienced  in  mining,  and  made  a  most  thorough 
survey  of  the  mining  properties  in  which  he  had 
now  become  interested,  and  finally  determined  to 
drift  for  a  "blind  ledge."  A  profound  reasoner, 
he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  where  one  man 
was  found  the  country  was  likely  to  be  'populated; 
that  one  line  of  mineral  gave  promise  of  another; 
and  that  nature  was  not  given  to  eccentricities  in 
the  deposit  of  her  stores  of  treasure;  that  she 
might  exhibit  faults,  but  sooner  or  later  another 
ore  body  would  be  discovered.  A  drift  was  at 
once  undertaken,  and  prosecuted  with  prodigious 
vigor.  That  drift  developed  not  only  a  new  de- 
posit of  ore,  but  it  produced  a  financial  king. 

The  fates  for  once  were  gracious.  They  yielded 
to  human  will.  The  music  of  the  quartz  mills 
aofain  resounded  along-  the  canon.  The  miners 
were  set  to  work  again;  pluck  had  found  its  re- 
ward. Other  drifts  were  run,  other  deposits 
found,  and  the  whole  line  of  mines  gave  token  of 
new  life.  Within  four  months  from  the  date  of 
Mr.  Sharon's  assumption  of  the  heavy  obligations 
he  was  enabled  to  pay  the  bank  the  whole  sum 
due  to  it,  and  he  had  placed  on  deposit  to  his 
credit  the  snug  sum  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  From  this  date  the  managers 
of  the  Bank  of  California  came  to  understand  that 
the  services  and  co-operation  of  Mr.  Sharon  were 
an  indispensable  necessity. 


SANDY  BOWERS. 


481 


Henceforth  Mr.  Sharon  became  a  recognized 
leader  in  enterprises  of  the  greatest  magnitude  on 
the  Comstock,  and  these  were  managed  with  such 
adroitness  and  skill,  that  he  was  regarded  as  one 
of  the  financial  chiefs  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  Mr. 
Sharon's  fame  as  a  financier,  together  with  his 
personal  popularity,  sent  him  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  of  which  he  is  still  a  member. 


We  will  close  this  chapter  with  a  "Comstock 
character  sketch"  of  the  life  of  Sandy  Bowers, 
which  will  strongly  remind  the  reader  of  the  char- 
acter of  "Coal-Oil  Johnny,"  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
his  sudden  rise  to  wealth  and  as  sudden  fall  to 
poverty.  It  is  from  the  San  Francisco  Stock  Re- 
port,  holiday  number,  December,  1879. 

"In  the  earlier  days  of  Comstock  mining,  Gold 
Hill  was  the  attraction.  The  surface  ores  of  that 
locality  were  decomposed,  and  therefore  easily 
reduced,  and  were  largely  endued  with  gold.  The 
claims  on  Gold  Hill  proper  were  small,  some  not 
over  ten  feet  in  length,  comprising  several  series, 
which  are  now  consolidated  into  the  Imperial, 
Challenge,  and  Confidence  Companies.  These 
claims  were  owned  mainly  by  individuals,  by  whom 
they  were  worked,  and  were  valued  at  fabulous 
sums  per  foot.  One  of  these  claims  was  owned 
by  an  odd  character,  named  Sandy  Bowers,  hus- 
band of  the  Mrs.  Bowers  who  is  known  as  the 
*  Washoe  Se.eress,'  and  who  professes  to  be  able, 


482 


WASTING  HIS  SUBSTANCE. 


by  some  sort  of  spiritual  influence,  to  locate  the 
position  of  bonanzas,  discover  lost  articles,  read 
fate  and  peer  into  the  future.  Sandy — he  is  dead, 
now — was  a  rough,  ignorant  frontiersman,  with  no 
business  ideas,  and  without  even  good  common 
sense.  But  he  made  money  hand  over  fist  out  of 
his  mine.  As  his  wealth  grew  he  indulged  in  all 
sorts  of  nonsensical  extravagance,  and  was  bled 
right  and  left,  and  died  the  next  thing  to  a  pauper. 
One  of  his  freaks  was  to  erect  a  magnificent  man- 
sion of  cut  stone  in  Washoe  Valley,  a  locality  at 
that  time  all  but  a  wilderness,  which  was  furnished 
in  a  style  of  barbaric  splendor — a  piano  in  every 
room ;  hot  and  cold  water  in  the  parlors ;  its  win- 
dows curtained  with  lace  purchased  by  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bowers  in  Europe,  and  its  walls  hung  with 
cheap  paintings,  palmed  off  on  them  in  Europe  at 
enormous  prices  as  the  originals  of  some  of  the 
great  masters.  Even  a  gold  mine  could  not  stand 
the  drain  put  upon  it  by  a  proprietor  who  had  no 
idea  of  the  value  of  money,  and  it  is  no  wonder 
that  Sandy  Bowers  died  poor.  Nearly  all  the 
original  locators  on  the  Comstock  either  died  poor 
or  are  to-day  living  in  poverty — but  none  of  them 
but  Bowers  ever  built  a  big  mansion.  Those  who 
did  realize  wealth  from  their  locations  spent  it  with 
a  free  hand  in  conviviality  and  generosity,  after 
the  time-honored  manner  of  the  lucky  miner,  who, 
when  he  makes  a  strike  and  gets  his  pockets  full 
of  coin,  is  a  regular  Jack  ashore. 


SANDY  BOWERS'  BANQUET.  ^g^> 

"In  1861,  Sandy  had  accumulated  so  much  cash 
that  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  his  life  would 
be  a  failure  if  Mrs.  Bowers  and  himself  did  not 
make  the  tour  of  Europe.  Somebody  had  told 
him  that  the  tour  of  Europe  was  the  correct  thing 
for  wealthy  Americans,  and  he  made  up  his  mind 
to  do  it  or  die.  Accordingly,  it  was  announced  to 
the  small  community  which  the  population  of 
Washoe  then  constituted  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sandy 
Bowers  were  going  to  Europe.  Then  somebody 
told  Sandy  that,  in  order  to  do  the  thing  up  in 
real  first-class  style,  he  should  give  a  farewell 
banquet  to  his  friends,  because  he  might  fall  off 
the  steamer  and  get  drowned,  or  be  shanghai'd  in 
New  York,  or  captured  by  brigands  in  Italy,  and 
the  banquet  would  keep  his  memory  fresh  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  of  Washoe.  "  Banquet  goes," 
said  Sandy,  and  banquet  went.  The  brick  Inter- 
national Hotel — the  first  brick  hotel  ever  built  in 
Virginia — had  just  been  completed.  It  bore  no 
more  comparison  to  the  present  stately  structure, 
which  now  bears  its  name  and  occupies  its  site, 
than  a  miner's  cabin  at  Bodie  does  to  the  Palace 
Hotel  in  San  Francisco ;  but  it  was  a  fine  building 
for  the  early  days  of  Washoe.  In  the  Interna- 
tional Hotel  the  banquet  was  held.  Everybody 
was  invited — miners  and  merchants,  ministers  and 
speculators,  and  politicians,  highwaymen,  gam- 
blers, mining  superintendents  and  other  disrepu- 
table  characters.     The  banquet  was   a   success. 


4§4 


SANDY'S  FAREWELL  SPEECH. 


Many  of  the  edibles  were  brought  from  San  Fran- 
cisco at  great  expense  by  express,  and  champagne 
flowed  like  the  clear  waters  of  the  Carson  before 
the  march  of  mining  enterprise  had  rendered  them 
sluggish  with  the  tailings  from  the  quartz-mills. 
In  response  to  the  toast,  'Our  host,'  Mr.  Bowers, 
being  nudged  by  his  nearest  neighbor  that  he  was 
expected  to  respond,  arose  and  said : 

"  'I've  been  in  this  yer  country  amongst  the  fust 
that  come  here.  I've  had  powerful  good  luck,  and 
I've  got  money  to  throw  at  the  birds.  Thar  ain't 
no  chance  for  a  gentleman  to  spend  his  coin  in 
this  country,  and  thar  ain't  nothin'  much  to  see, 
so  me  and  Mrs.  Bowers  is  goin'  to  Yoorop  to  take 
in  the  sights.  One  of  the  great  men  of  this  coun- 
try was  in  this  region  a  while  back.  That  was 
Horace  Greeley.  I  saw  him,  and  he  didn't  look 
like  no  great  shakes.  Outside  of  him  the '  only 
great  men  I  have  seen  in  this  country  is  Governor 
Nye  and  old  Winnemucca.  Now  me  and  Mrs. 
Bowers  is  goin'  to  Yoorop,  to  see  the  queen  of 
England  and  the  other  great  men  of  them  coun- 
tries, and  I  hope  you'll  all  jine  in  and  drink  Mrs. 
Bowers'  health.  Thar's  plenty  champagne,  and 
money  ain't  no  object/  " 


CHAPTER  XXV 

CONCLUSION — A  WORD  OF  ADVICE — ALL  IS  NOT  GOLD  THAT  GLITTERS- 
AMOUNT  OF  FUNDS  REQUIRED  FOR  THE  JOURNEY — RAILWAY  AND 
STAGE  FARE— THE  CONTINGENCIES  OF  SUCH  A  JOURNEY — SICKNESS — 
A  NOBLE  ACT — PROSPECTING  A  GREAT  LOTTERY — WHO  DRAW  THE 
PRIZES — THE  OLD-TIMERS  OF  '49 — PLENTY  OF  ROOM  FOR  PLUCK  AND 
ENERGY — HOW  TO  OUTFIT  FOR  PROSPECTING — WHAT  TO  PROVIDE — 
THE  COST — THE  BURRO — A  USEFUL  ANIMAL. 

Conclusion— A  Word  of  Advice. 

BEFORE  closing  these  chapters,  a  word  of 
advice  to  the  inexperienced,  who,  like  our- 
selves, may  have  caught  the  "fever"  to 
prospect  for  gold  in  the  Rockies,  may  not  be  out 
of  place.  While  it  is  all  true,  that  we  have  in  the 
Rockies,  and  beyond,  a  grand  country;  a  country 
rich  in  minerals  and  gold;  a  country  full  of  sur- 
prises and  delight  for  the  eyes  of  those  who  have 
never  seen  it;  while  there  are  hundreds  and  thou- 
sands who  have  sought  their  fortunes  in  this  land, 
and  have  "struck  it  rich;"  and  while  it  is  one  of 
the  most  delightful  excursions  which  Americans 
who  are  able  can  take  for  pleasure  or  health;  yet 
it  is  equally  true  that  "all  is  not  gold  that  glit- 
ters;" that  fortune  does  not  smile  on  the  whole 
multitude  who  woo  it;  that  of  the  thousands  who 
seek  it,  but  a  small  portion  wins;  and  that  disap- 
pointment and  disaster  are  as  frequent  in  that  land 
of  promise  as  in  any  other. 

48s 


486 


COST  OF  GOING. 


It  may  be  worth  while,  therefore,  to  consider 
well  the  advantages  and  disadvantages,  "pro  and 
con,"  of  taking  a  voyage  upon  an  unknown  sea, 
or  a  journey  into  a  new  and  untried  land.  We 
will,  therefore,  as  briefly  as  possible,  give  such 
suggestions  as  occur  to  us  which  might  be  of  ser- 
vice to  any  reader  who  may  be  contemplating  a 
journey  to  the  mining  regions  of  the  great  West. 

First,  money  is  the  all-essential  element  which 
is  necessary  in  order  to  take  such  a  trip.  With- 
out money  it  would  be  useless  for  young  men  of 
the  Eastern  or  Middle  States  to  contemplate  for 
a  moment  the  journey  of  two  thousand  miles  or 
more,  and  the  necessary  preparation  for  the  hard- 
ships of  camp  life  in  the  mountains.  Money,  then, 
is  the  first  requirement,  and  is  indispensable  to 
such  an  undertaking.  Next,  what  amount  is  re- 
quired ?  This,  of  course,  depends  upon  circum- 
stances. But  for  those  in  the  Eastern  or  Middle 
States,  about  five  hundred  dollars  is  the  sum  which 
should  be  provided.  It  is  true,  that  with  plenty  of 
brain  and  muscle,  and  ordinary  good  fortune,  the 
trip  can  be  made  for  half  this  sum. 

The  railway  and  stage  fare  to  the  mining  re- 
gions in  Colorado  and  the  Black  Hills,  from  either 
New  York  or  Philadelphia,  or  other  eastern  cities, 
is  about  from  seventy  to  eighty-five  dollars,  owing 
somewhat  to  the  class  of  ticket  purchased.  From 
intermediate  points  to  the  same  places  it  will  be 
about  the  same  from  points  east  of  Chicago.     To 


CONTINGENCIES.  4g7 

the  mining  regions  of  Montana,  Idaho  and  New 
Mexico,  the  railway  and  stage  fare  will  probably 
exceed  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars. 
Therefore,  when  hotel  bills  and  other  necessary 
expenses  along  the  way  are  considered,  and  a  sum 
provided  with  which  to  return,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  is  hardly  sufficient,  though  in  some 
cases  it  may  be  enough.  But  there  are  certain 
contingencies  to  be  provided  for  besides.  Sickness 
and  misfortune,  and  a  sudden  call  home,  should  be 
provided  for  at  the  outset.  It  came  within  our 
experience  to  see  many  poor  fellows  sick  and 
among  strangers,  without  money  or  means  of  pro- 
viding for  their  distress,  and  entirely  dependent 
upon  the  charity  of  strangers  or  new-found  friends. 
The  condition  of  such  is  pitiable.  There  are  no 
conveniences  to  help  the  sick  in  a  new  mining 
camp.  There  are  no  beds  but  the  ground  or  hard 
boards;  no  shelter  but  tents  and  rude  huts,  which 
are  no  better.  Tents  are  very  warm  while  the  sun 
beats  down  upon  them  at  mid-day,  hot  and  uncom- 
fortable ;  and  cold  at  night,  in  these  regions  of  high 
elevation.  The  food  is  plain,  coarse,  hearty,  indi- 
gestible, and  unfit  for  the  sick.  While  the  well 
and  strong  notice  none  of  these  inconveniences, 
to  the  sick  they  seem  many  times  multiplied. 
Very  frequently  medical  attendance  cannot  be 
had ;  and  when  it  can,  costs  exorbitant  prices — 
five  dollars,  and  often  ten  for  a  single  visit.  The 
chances  are  that  the  sick  generally  die  under  such 


488 


GENEROSITY  AMONG  MINERS. 


conditions ;  and  if  they  get  well,  the  expense  of  a 
short  sickness  has  been  very  great.  -  Again,  a 
stranger  sick,  and  without  money,  will  receive  little 
attention  in  such  a  place,  compared  to  that  he 
would  receive  in  many  places  East.  Yet  there 
are  many  noble  acts  shown  by  miners  and  others 
in  the  mountains  toward  those  who  are  sick.  We 
were  cognizant  of  one  party,  a  freighter,  from 
Iowa,  who  had  a  number  of  teams  in  the  moun- 
tains. Two  of  his  acquaintances  from  the  same 
place  became  sick,  one  entirely  helpless,  with 
rheumatism,  and  both  out  of  money.  The  freighter 
provided  money,  cared  for  them  until  they  were 
better,  and  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  start 
home,  not  having  the  money  at  hand,  he  borrowed 
one  hundred  dollars  on  the  security  of  his  teams, 
and  sent  the  parties  home.  He  remarked  that  he 
did  not  know  as  he  would  ever  recover  the  money, 
but  would  not  see  acquaintances  from  his  section 
suffer  while  he  had  means  to  assist  them.  Sick- 
ness, then,  is  one  of  the  contingencies  to  provide 
for,  and  is  our  reason  for  putting  the  sum  required 
for  such  a  journey  at  what  may  seem  too  high  a 
figure. 

To  those  who  feel  within  themselves  the  ele- 
ments of  success,  and  who,  having  the  necessary 
means  to  go,  are  thirsting  for  adventure  and  burn- 
ing with  the  fever  of  desire  to  prospect  for  gold 
in  the  mountains ;  to  such  we  say  go.  The  ex- 
perience  and   knowledge  of  the  world  you  will 


WHO  SHOULD  NOT  GO. 


489 


acquire,  and  the  grand  sights  you  will  see,  will 
more  than*  repay  you  if  you  should  not  be  success- 
ful in  "striking  it  rich."  But  to  those  who  would 
go,  like  many  do,  thinking  that  gold,  so  to  speak, 
"grows  on  the  bushes;"  that  they  have  only  to 
strike  a  pick  into  the  ground,  or  dig  a  shallow 
hole  to  strike  a  "Bonanza;"  that  fortune  is  sure,  if 
they  can  only  reach  the  land  of  promise;  we  say 
to  them,  fortune  is  not  sure;  that  the  search  for 
gold  is  a  lottery,  in  which  the  larger  part  of  the 
tickets  draw  blanks ;  yet,  unlike  a  lottery,  some- 
thing depends  upon  the  brain  and  muscle,  perse- 
verance and  pluck,  of  the  man.  It  has  been  esti- 
mated that  about  one  in  a  thousand  draw  prizes 
in  this  lottery  of  prospecting. 

It  can  almost  be  said  that  prospecting  has  be- 
come a  trade  or  profession.  There  are  men  who 
have  followed  it  a  lifetime,  and  who  make  it  the 
business  of  their  lives. .  We  have  seen  those  who 
were  in  the  California  excitement  of  1849 — old 
men  now.  They  were  in  Nevada,  Utah,  Montana 
and  in  Colorado,  in  the  earliest  days  of  the  Pike's 
Peak  "boom,"  and  later  in  the  Black  Hills  and 
Leadville.  Some  of  them  have  visited  Arizona 
and  New  Mexico,  and  are  now  in  the  Gunnison 
country,  still  prospecting  for  gold  and  silver.  A 
few  of  these  own  property,  and  have  comfortable 
homes  and  families  in  the  East  and  elsewhere. 
Yet  every  summer  finds  them  in  the  mountains. 
It  is  a  life  they  cannot  quit,  and  has  a  power  over 


4q0  THE  OLD-TIMERS. 

them  which  they  cannot  resist.  These  are  expe- 
rienced gold  hunters.  They  have  acquired  a  cer- 
tain practical  knowledge  of  minerals  and  vein 
formation,  which  is  very  useful  to  them.  They 
are  the  first  to  reach  new  mining  regions;  in  fact, 
they  are  the  pioneers  to  discover  and  explore  the 
ground.  It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  they 
possess  many  advantages,  by  their  experience, 
over  the  new-comers  and  inexperienced  "tender- 
feet"  who  visit  the  land.  Yet  many  of  these  old- 
timers  are  poor.  Some  have  never  "struck  it 
rich;"  others  have  acquired  a  fortune,  and,  "Sandy 
Bowers"*  like,  have  lost  it.  A  few  have  still  a 
competency.  Mining  regions  are  most  always 
crowded  with  prospectors.  There  is  seldom  lack  of 
men.  There  is,  as  a  rule,  enough  of  these  expe- 
rienced ones  to  thoroughly  prospect  the  country. 
Here,  then,  is  shown  another  of  the  contingencies 
to  be  considered. 

It  is  not  our  desire  to  discourage  the  ambitious 
and  plucky  young  man,  who,  with  faith  in  his  own 
resources,  is  bound  for  the  mountains.  Far  from 
it.  We  aim  only  to  show  in  its  true  light  the 
status  of  the  case.  "Tender- feet"  have  and  are 
still  striking  it  rich  in  all  mineral  regions.  Pluck, 
and  energy,  and  brains  will  succeed  in  any  coun- 
try. There  are  plenty  of  opportunities  to  make 
money  in  a  new  country  outside  of  mining. 
Towns  build  up  rapidly,  lots  double  up  in  value, 


*  Sec  Chapter  24th,  Life  of  Sandy  Bowers. 


OUTFIT  FOR  THE  JOURNEY. 


491 


and  merchants,  grocers,  tradesmen  and  mechanics 
are  often  suddenly  enriched  from  small  invest- 
ments on  the  start.  To  all  who  have  means  and 
energy,  and  the  desire  to  work,  there  is  always 
plenty  of  room. 

Now,  to  those  who  may  be  likely  to  go,  a  few 
hints  as  to  what  they  require  for  the  journey. 
First  of  all,  those  who  go  should  seek,  if  possible, 
to  go  in  companies  of  two  or  more  trusted  ac- 
quaintances or  friends.  It  is  both  cheaper,  pleas- 
anter,  and  safer  for  parties  to  camp  out  in  this 
manner  by  clubbing  together.  A  common  error 
is  too  much  baggage.  Take  but  little.  You  will 
need  no  fine  clothes.  If  you  took  them,  the  dust 
and  dirt  of  camp  life  would  ruin  them.  One  plain, 
strong  suit,  overalls,  two  or  three  heavy  woollen 
shirts,  and  also  drawers  (indispensable  to  health 
with  the  cold  nights  of  high  altitudes) ;  no  cotton 
shirts,  but  woollen  overshirts,  also,  and  only  such 
other  clothing  as  is  absolutely  necessary,  and  no 
more  than  you  can  pack  in  a  small  satchel,  all  told. 
Go  expecting  to  "rough  it,"  and  prepared  to  walk 
and  to  carry  all  your  traps  and  baggage  when  in 
the  mountains.  It  will  be  found  better  to  buy 
things  as  you  need  them,  than  to  be  burdened  with 
too  much  luggage.  When  near  your  destination 
purchase  two  pairs  of  heavy  blankets,  and  carry 
them  with  a  shawl-strap.  For  yourself  and  partner 
buy  a  small  tent,  a  frying-pan,  coffee-pot,  tincups, 
etc.     Do  not  buy  these  articles  until  you  get  into 


4g2  ON  THE   WA  Y. 

the  mountains.  A  common  error  is  to  buy  them 
too  far  away  from  your  destination.  There  are 
always  towns  not  far  away  where  all  such  supplies 
are  kept,  and  frequently  the  very  place  to  which 
you  are  going  is  well  supplied  with  all  these  ar- 
ticles. Such  was  our  own  experience,  although 
we  freighted  our  supplies  from  Denver,  paying 
four  cents  per  pound  charges.  We  could  have 
purchased  at  better  advantage  in  the  mountains. 

Those  who  expect  to  prospect  should,  in  some 
town  as  near  their  destination  as  possible,  buy  a 
burro*  which  will  cost  about  twenty-five  dollars, 
pack  upon  his  back  a  supply  of  provisions,  an  axe, 
pick,  shovels,  cooking  utensils,  tent  and  blankets. 
Drive  the  animal  to  any  point  you  choose,  and  to 
transport  yourselves,  walk.  It  costs  but  a  trifle  to 
keep  a  burro ;  he  will  live  chiefly  upon  the  pasture 
along  the  way,  and  they  are  of  great  assistance  in 
moving  from  place  to  place;  and  are  remarkably 
sure-footed,  and  will  climb  the  most  rugged  moun- 
tains where  other  animals  would  fail.  There  are 
thousands  of  them  in  use  in  the  Rockies,  as  pack 
animals.  Such  an  outfit,  including  the  jack  and 
tools,  with  a  months  provisions  for  two  persons, 
will  probably  not  exceed  in  cost  sixty  dollars. 

And  should  you,  kind  reader,  ever  take  such  a 
journey,  let  us  hope  that  it  may  be  a  grand  suc- 
cess; that  you  may,  indeed,  strike  a  "bonanza*" 

*  The  Mexican  name  for  a  donkey  or  jack;  name  used  in  California 
and  Colorado. 


FINAL   WISHES.  *~~ 

And  last,  but  not  least,  let  us  hope  that  you,  like 
ourselves,  may  reach  your  homes  again  in  safety, 
thankful  to  the  kind  Providence  whose  arm  pro- 
tected you  throughout  the  dangers  of  your  jour- 
ney. And,  like  us,  may  you  enjoy  good  health, 
and  return  with  renewed  strength  and  vigor  of 
body  and  mind,  wrought  through  the  benign  influ- 
ences of  the  clear  sky,  pure  atmosphere  and  de- 
lightful scenery  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 


APPENDIX. 

VALUABLE  TABLES,  SHOWING  THE  YEARLY  PRODUCT  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES  FROM  1 848  TO  l88o — PRODUCT  OF  THE  STATES  AND  TERRI- 
TORIES WEST  FOR  1879 — ANNUAL  PRODUCT  OF  LEAD,  SILVER  AND 
GOLD  IN  THE  STATES  AND  TERRITORIES  WEST  OF  THE  MISSOURI, 
FROM  1870  TO  l88o — THE  WORLD'S  PRODUCT  OF  GOLD  AND  SILVER — 
THE  DIVIDENDS  OF  THE  MINES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  FOR  1 879 — 
LIST  OF  THE  DIVIDEND-PAYING  MINES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES — DE- 
CISION OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  THE  GENERAL  LAND  OFFICE  IN 
REGARD  TO  THE  TOWN-SITE  OF  DEADWOOD,  DAKOTA — THE  MINING 
LAWS   OF  THE  UNITED  STATES   AND   REGULATIONS  THEREUNDER. 


Valuable  Tables,  Showing'  Product  of  Precious  Metals,  etc 

Below  will  be  found  a  table  showing  the  annual 
product  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  United  States 
since  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  in  1848, 
not  including  the  products  of  lead  in  silver  bullion:* 


Year. 
1848.. 
1849.. 
1850.. 
1851.. 
1852.. 
1853- 
1854.. 
1855.. 
1856.. 
1857... 
1858.. 
1859.. 
i860.. 
l86l.. 
1862.. 
1863.. 
1864.. 


Carried  forward. 


Gold 
$5,000,000 
40,000,000 
50,000,000 
55,000,000 
60,000,000 
65,000,000 
60,000,000 
55,000,000 
55,000,000 
55,000,000 
50,000,000 
50,000,000 
46,000,000 
43,000,000 
39,200,000 
40,000,000 
46,100,000 


.14,300,000 


Silver. 


200,000 

200,000 

200,000 

200,000 

200,000 

200,000 

200,000 

200,000 

1,000,000 

2,000,000 

4,500,000 

8,500.000 

1 1 ,000,000 


$28,600,000 


Total. 
$5,000,000 
40,000,000 
50,000,000 
55,000,000 
60,200,000 
65,200,000 
60,200,000 
55,200,000 
55,200,000 
55,200,000 
50,200,000 
50,200,000 

47,000,000 

45,000,000 
43,700,000 
48,500,000 
57,100,000 

$842,900,000 


*  Carefully  compiled  from  John  J.  Valentine's  Circulars  and  other  sta- 
tistics (of  the  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.'s  Express  Company,  San  Francisco). 

494 


TABLES  OP  PRODUCTION. 


495 


Year. 

Brought  forward 

1865 

1866 

1867 

1868 

1869 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879 

Total 


Gold. 
#814,300,000 
53,225,000 
53,500,000 
51,725,000 
48,000,000 
49,500,000 
50,000,000 
43,500,000 
36,000,000 
36,000,000 
42,177,092 
42,000,000 
46,850,000 
45,100,000 

37,576,030 
31,470,262 


#1,480,923,384 


Silver. 
#28,600,00O 
11,250,000 
10,000,000 
13,500,000 
12,000,000 
13,000,000 
16,000,000 
22,000,000 
25,750,000 
35,750,000 
30,251,114 

35,703,413 
38,500,000 
38,950,000 
37,248,137 
40,032,857 


#408,035,521 


Total. 
#842,900,000 
64,475,000 
63,500,000 
65,225,000 
60,000,000 
62,500,000 
66,000,000 
65,500,000 
6l,75O,O0O 
71,750,000 
72,428,206 

77,703,413 
85,350,000 
84,050,000 
74,824,167 
71,503,119* 

#1,889,458,905 


*  Besides  #4,185,769  in  value  of  lead. 


Statement  of  the  amount  of  precious  metals 
produced  in  the  States  and  Territories  west  of  the 
Missouri  River,  including  British  Columbia  (and 
receipts  in  San  Francisco  by  express  from  the 
west  coast  of  Mexico),  during  the  year  1879: 


STATES    AND     TERRI- 
TORIES. 

Gold  dust 
and  bullion 
by  express. 

Gold  dust 
and  bullion 

by  other 
conveyances. 

Silver  bul- 
lion by 
express. 

Ores  and 
base  bullion 
by  freight. 

Total. 

California 

$16,348,730 
168,847 
943,601 

77-579 
1,035,804 

i,907,°53 

211,640 

3.M4,697 

19,800 

212,722 

2,674,156 

93,916 

976,742 

#817,436 

94,36o 
7,757 

207,160 
95.352 
21,164 

3X4,469 

21,272 
534,831 

$739,44o 
16,622,472 

578,336 
1,194,389 
2,559,042 

1,594,349 

603,000 

1,046,036 

1,249,955 

#285,367 
5,206,395 

270,000 
432,226 

2.677,033 
9,360,000 

662,373 

341,000 

#18,190,973 

2i,997,7i4 

1,037,961 

85,336 

2,091,300 

3,629.020 

5,468,879 

I4,4i3,5i5 

Utah 

1,942,403 

3,208,987 

1,683,871 

976,74a 

Mexico  (West  Coast) 
British  Columbia 

#27,814,287 

#2,113,801 

#26,187,019 

$19,234,394 

$75,349,5ox 

496 


TABLES  OF  PRODUCTION. 


The  bullion  from  the  Comstock  Lode  contains 
4ITTo-  Per  cent-  g°W  and  58^.  per  cent,  silver. 
Of  the  so-called  base  bullion,  from  Nevada,  27  per 
cent,  was  gold,  and  of  the  whole  product  of  the 
State,  2  7-j^ftj.  per  cent,  was  gold. 

The  gross  yield  for  1879,  shown  above,  aggre- 
gated, is  approximately  as  follows: 


Gold,  43T2^  per  cent., 
Silver,  50^  per  cent., 
Lead,  5^  per  cent., 


$32,539,920 

38,623,812 

4,185,769 

$75,349,501 


Annual  products  of  lead,  silver  and  gold  in  the 
States  and  Territories  west  of  the  Missouri  River, 
from  1870  to  1879: 


Year. 

Product  as  per  W.  F.  &  Co.'s 
Statements,    including    the 
amounts  from   British  Co- 
lumbia arid  West  Coast  of 
Mexico. 

Product  after  deducting    the 
amounts  from   British   Co- 
lumbia and   West  Coast  of 
Mexico. 

The  net  product  of  the  States  and  Territories 
west  of  the  Missouri  River,  exclusive  of  Brit- 
ish Columbia  and  West  Coast  of  Mexico,  di- 
vided, is  as  follows  : 

LEAD. 

SILVER. 

GOLD. 

1870.. 
1871.. 
1872.. 
1873- 
1874- 
1875- 
1876.. 
1877.. 
1878.. 
1879.. 

#54,000,000 
58,284,000 
62,236,959 
72,258,693 
74,401,045 
80,889,057 
90,875,173 
98,421,754 
81,154,622 

75,349,501 

#52,150,000 
55,784,000 
60,351,824 
70,139,860 
71,965,610 

76,703,433 
87,219,859 
95,811,582 
78,276,167 
72,688,888 

#I,080,000 
2,100,000 
2,250,000 
3,450,000 
3,800,000 
5,100,000 
5,040,000 
5,085,250 
3,452,000 
4,185,769 

#17,320,000 
19,286,000 
19,924,429 
27,483,302 
29,699,122 
31,635,329 
39,292,924 
45,846,109 
37,248,137 
37,032,857 

#33,750,000 
34,398,000 

38,177,395 
39,206,558 
38,466,488 

39,968,194 
42,886,935 
44,880,223 
37,576,030 
31,470,262 

EXPORTS  OF  SILVER,  ,g~ 

The  exports  of  silver  during  the  present  year 
to  Japan,  China,  India,  the  Straits,  etc.,  have 
been  as  follows:  From  Southampton,  $33,000,000; 
Marseilles  and  Venice,  $5,000,000;  San  Fran- 
cisco, $8,000,000.  Total,  $46,000,000;  as  against 
$39,000,000  from  the  same  place  in  1878. 
JOHN  J.  VALENTINE, 

General  Superintendent. 


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DIVIDENDS. 


The  Dividends  of  1879.* 


We  make  up  the  following  detailed  statement, 
showing  the  incorporated  mines  which  have  paid 
dividends  during  1879: 


Name.  No. 

Amador  Con.,  Cal 1 

Bodie  Con.,  Cal 6 

Empire  (Amador),  Cal 4 

Excelsior     "  "    9 

Findley  (Georgia) 4 

Father  De  Smet,  Cal 1 

Green  Mountain,  Cal 6 

Homestake,  Dakota 12 


GOLD  MINES. 

Amount.     Name.  No. 

87,500  Idaho,  Cal 12 

300,000  Pioneer  Gold  M.  Co.,  Cal..    2 

64,000  Plumas  National,  Cal 6 

165,000  Plumas  Eureka,  Cal 1 

8,000  Sierra  Buttes,  Cal 1 

30,000  Standard,  Cal 12 

37,500 
360,0001 


GOLD  AND  SILVER   MINES. 


Argenta,  Nevada 1 

Belle  Isle,    "       6 

California  "       5 

Con.  Virginia,  Nevada 5 

Eureka  Con.,       "       12 


Briggs,  Col 1 

Caribou,  Col 4 

Climax,    «'    1 

Chrysolite,  Col 2 

Horn  Silver,  Col 1 

Indian  Queen,  Nevada 1 

Little  Pittsburg,  Col 12 


Calumet  &  Hecla,  Mich....    4 

Central  City,  Mich 1 

Osceola,  Mich.» 1 


$20,000  Independence,  Nevada.. 

300,000iOphir, 
1,620,000  Richmond  Con.,  " 
1.350.000 

725,000| 

SILVER  MINES. 


$8.000!Leadville,  Col 6 

40,000  La  Plata  M.  &  S.  Co.,  Col...  3 

20,000  Martin  White,  Col 3 

400,000JOntario,  Col 12 

100,000  i  Tombstone,  Arizona 1 

12,000 
1,250,000 


COPPER  MINES. 


$1,600,000 
80.000 
60,000 


Ore  Knob,  Mich 2 

Quincy,  Mich 1 


Amount. 
$142,600 
8  000 
54  000 
60  937 
46.875 
600,000 

$1,874,412 


$75  000 
100  000 
337,500 

$1,527,500 


$120,000 

45,000 

60.000 

600,000 

50,000 

$2,705,000 


$97..r00 
40.000 


$1,877,500 
Napa  Consol  M.  Co 10,000 

RECAPITULATION. 

13  Gold  mines $1,874,412 

8  Gold  and  Silver  mines 4,527.500 

12  Silver  mines 2.705,0  0 

5  Copper  mines 1,877,500 

1  Miscellaneous ; 10,000 


$11,094,412 


Annexed  will  also  be  found  a  list  of  the  divi- 
dend-paying gold  and  silver  mines  of  the  United 
States,  correct,  up  to  July  ist,  1880,  showing  the 

*  Compiled  by  the  "  Mining  Record,"  New  York. 


DIVIDENDS.  cOI 

amount  of  capital  of  each  number  of  shares,  par 
value  of  shares,  latest  quotation  of  stock,  current 
value  of  mine,  number  and  amount  of  assess- 
ments, if  any;  total  dividends  to  date,  and  the 
number  of  dividends  and  amount  per  share.  It 
is  a  very  useful  table  for  reference.  It  is  the 
same  as  the  tables  published  weekly  by  the  various 
mining  journals  in  New  York. 


Definitions  of  Muting  Terms. 

Selected  f rovi  Glossary  cf  Yale,  definitions  of  Van 
Cotta,  and  other  sources. 

Adit. — A  level,  a  horizontal  drift  or  passage 
from  the  surface  into  a  mine. 

Alluvium. — A  deposit  of  loose  gravel  between 
the  superficial  covering  of  vegetable  mould  and 
subjacent  rock. 

Apex. — The  top  or  highest  point  of  mineral. 

Argentiferous. — Containing  silver. 

Ascension. — The  theory  that  the  matter  filling 
fissures  was  introduced  from  below. 

Assay. — To  test  ores  by  chemical  or  blow-pipe 
examination. 

Auriferous* — Containing  gold. 

Bed. — A  horizontal  seam  or  deposit  of  mineral. 

Blende. — An  ore  of  zinc,  consisting  of  zinc  and 
sulphur. 

Bonanza. — Fair  weather ;  a  mine  is  said  to  be 
en  bonanza  when  it  is  yielding  a  profit. 

Boulders. — Loose,  rounded  masses  of  stone. 

Breast. — The  face  of  a  tunnel  or  drift. 

Cap. — A  vein  is  in  the  "cap"  when  it  is  much 
contracted. 

Carbonates. — Soft  carbonates ;  salts  containing 
carbonic  acid,  with  a  base  of  lead.  Hard  carbon- 
ates ;  the  same  with  iron  for  a  base. 

502 


DEFINITIONS  OF  MINING  TERMS.  c0? 

Cheek. — The  side  or  wall  of  a  vein. 

Chimneys. — The  richer  spots  in  lodes  as  distin- 
guished from  poorer  ones. 

Cinnabar. — Sulphuret  of  mercury.' 

Claim. — The  space  of  ground  located  and 
worked  under  the  laws. 

Chlorides. — A  compound  of  chlorine  and  silver. 

Contact. — A  touching,  meeting  or  junction  of 
two  substances,  as  rocks. 

Contact  vein. — A  vein  along  the  contact  plane 
of,  or  between  two  dissimilar  rock  masses. 

Country. — The  ground  traversed  by  a  vein. 

Country  rock. — The  rock  masses  on  each  side 
of  a  vein. 

Course  of  vein. — Along  its  length  (see  Strike). 

Crevice. — A  narrow  opening,  resulting  from  a 
split  or  crack ;  a  fissure. 

Cribbing. — The  timber  or  plank  lining  of  a 
shaft ;  the  confining  of  the  wall-rock. 

Cropping  out. — The  rising  of  layers  of  rock  to 
the  surface. 

Cross-cut. — A  level  driven  across  the  course  of 
a  vein. 

Cut. — To  intersect  a  vein;  open  cut,  a  level 
without  a  covering  driven  across  the  course  of  a 
vein. 

Debris. — Fragments  detached  from  rock  or 
mountain. 

Descension. — The  theory  that  the  material  filling 
veins  came  in  from  above. 


5°4 


DEFINITIONS  OF  MINING   TERMS, 


Diggings, — Name  applied  to  placers  being 
worked. 

Dip, — The  slope,  pitch  or  angle  which  a  vein 
makes  with  the  plane  of  the  horizon. 

Diluvium. — A  deposit  of  superficial  sand,  loam, 
pebbles,  gravel,  etc. 

Ditch. — An  artificial  water-course  dug  in  the 
earth ;  a  flume  or  canal. 

Drift. — A  horizontal  passage  underground. 

Dump. — A  place  for  deposit  of  tailings,  or 
waste  rock. 

Dike. — A  wall-like  mass  of  mineral  matter  fill- 
ing fissures. 

Exploitation. — The  working  of  a  mine ;  the 
amount  of  work  done. 

Face. — The  end  of  a  drift  or  tunnel. 

Fault. — A  displacement  of  strata  or  veins  so 
that  they  are  not  continuous. 

Feeder. — A  small  vein  joining  a  larger  one. 

Fissure  vein. — A  fissure  or  crack  in  the  earth's 
crust  filled  with  mineral  matter. 

Float. — Loose  rock  or  isolated  masses  of  ore, 
or  ore  detached  from  the  original  formation. 

Foot-wall. — The  layer  of  rock  immediately 
under  the  vein. 

Forfeiture. — A  failure  to  comply  with  the  laws, 
prescribing  the  quantity  of  work. 

Galena. — Lead  ore ;  sulphur  and  lead. 

Gangue. — The  substance  inclosing  and  accom- 
panying the  ore  in  a  vein. 


DEFINITIONS  OF  MINING  TERMS.  rQr 

Gash  vein, — A  vein  wide  above  and  narrow 
below. 

Geode. — A  cavity  studded  with  crystals  or  mineral 
matter ;  a  rounded  stone  containing  such  a  cavity. 

Gold. — A  reddish,  yellow-colored  metal. 

Hanging  wall. — The  layer  of  rock  or  wall  over 
a  lode. 

Heading. — The  vein  above  the  drift. 

Headings. — In  placer  mining,  the  mass  or.  gravel 
above  the  head  of  sluice. 

Horse. — A  mass  of  rock  matter  occurring  in  or 
between  the  branches  of  a  vein. 

Hydraulicing. — Washing  down  a  placer  claim 
by  the  use  of  hose  or  "  giant  nozzle." 

Impregnation. — Metallic  deposits  having  unde- 
fined limits  and  form. 

Incline  drift. — An  inclined  passage  under- 
ground. 

Infiltration. — The  theory  that  vein-filling  was 
introduced  as  mineral  water. 

Injection. — The  theory  that  vein-filling  was  in- 
troduced by  an  igneous  fluid,  and  solidified. 

In  place. — A  vein  or  lode  inclosed  on  both  sides 
by  fixed  and  immovable  rock. 

I&gfftofr — The  timber  over  and  upon  the  sides 
of  a  drift. 

Length. — A  certain  portion  of  the  vein  when 
taken  on  a  horizontal  line. 

Level. — A  horizontal  passage  or  drift  into  a 
mine  from  a  shaft. 


506 


DRFINITIONS  OF  MINING  TERMS. 


Little  Giant. — A  jointed  iron  nozzle  used  in 
placer  mining. 

Lode. — Aggregations  of  mineral  matter  contain- 
ing ores  in  fissures. 

Matrix. — The  rock,  or  earthy  matter  containing 
a  mineral  or  metallic  ore. 

Metallurgy. — The  science  of  the  reduction  of 
ores. 

Mine. — An  excavation  in  the  earth  from  which 
mineral  substances  are  dug. 

Mill-run. — A  test  of  a  quantity  of  ore  after 
reduction. 

Nodule. — A  rounded  mass  of  irregular  shape. 

Ores. — Compounds  of  metals  with  oxygen,  sul- 
phur, arsenic,  etc. 

Outcrop. — That  portion  of  a  vein  appearing  at 
the  surface. 

Patch. — A  small  placer  claim. 

Placer. — A  gravelly  place  where  gold  is  found ; 
includes  all  forms  of  mineral  deposits  excepting 
veins  in  place.  Sec.  2329,  Rev.  Stat.  United 
States1. 

Pocket. — A  rich  spot  in  a  vein  or  deposit. 

Prospecting. — Searching  for  new  deposits,  also 
preliminary  explorations  to  test  the  value  of  lodes 
or  placers. 

Quicksilver. — Mercury,  used  in  sluices  to  catch 
gold. 

Riffle  blocks. — Wooden  blocks  set  on  end  in  a 
sluice,  with  interstices  for  catching  gold. 


DEFINITIONS  OF  MINING  TERMS.  cQy 

Segregations. — Aggregations  of  ore  having  ir- 
regular form  and  definite  limits. 

Salvage. — Thin  band  of  earthy  matter  between 
the  vein  and  walls. 

Shaft. — A  well-like  excavation  in  the  earth. 

Shift. — The  time  for  a  miner's  work,  in  one  day 
or  night. 

Silver. — A  soft  white  metal. 

Slickensides. — Smooth,  polished  surfaces  of.walls 
caused  by  violent  trituration. 

Sluices. — Boxes  joined  together  set  with  riffle 
blocks,  through  which  is  washed  auriferous  earth. 

Smelting. — Reducing  the  ores  in  furnaces  to 
metals. 

Stamps. — Machines  for  crushing  ores. 

Stope.- — One  of  a  series  of  steps,  into  which  the 
upper  surface  of  an  excavation  is  cut ;  to  excavate 
in  the  form  of  steps  above  a  drift. 

Stoping. — The  act  of  stoping  or  breaking  down 
the  surface  of  an  excavation  with  a  pick. 

Strata. — A  series  of  beds  of  rock 

Strike. — The  extension  of  a  lode  in  a  horizontal 
direction. 

Stulls. — A  framework,  covered  with  timber  or 
planks,  to  support  rubbish  in  working  a  stope. 

Sublimation. — The  theory  that  the  vein-matter 
was  introduced  in  a  gaseous  condition. 

Sump. — That  part  of  the  shaft  below  the  plat- 
form used  for  receiving  water. 


5o8 


DEFINITIONS  OF  MINING  TERMS. 


Tailings. — The  refuse  matter  discharged  from 
the  end  of  a  sluice. 

Tunnel. — A  level,  driven  at  right  angles  to  the 
vein,  which  its  object  is  to  reach. 

Vein. — Aggregations  of  mineral  matter  in  fis- 
sures of  rocks. 

Walls. — The  sides  next  to  the  lode* 

Whim. — A  machine  for  raising  ores  and  refuse. 

Winze. — A  shaft  sunk  from  one  level  to  another. 


Q 


